Trust Me
by eolhcsullivan452
Summary: Fifty connected one-shots about a saint and a manipulator, white and black, love and hate, the living and the dead. This is a story about a Composer and his muse. A story about Rhyme and reason. In the end, you'll understand. Trust me. Requests welcome.
1. Fate

**Fate**

It was a dreary day in Shibuya; a day where Rhyme didn't feel at all like her usual, chipper self.

Of course, it would be on such a day that Joshua would decide to break her spirit down even more. Ducking under the door to 104 (and maybe even hiding amongst the teens that might block her from Joshua's view), Rhyme suddenly found her attempts to evade the Composer in vain. Grabbing onto her arm not too kindly, the ashen haired boy forced Rhyme to look at him with a questioning expression on his face. It was this that gave Rhyme pause; Joshua was never unsure about anything.

"Josh-"

"Earlier, Rhyme, you said that you believed in destiny. But when I brought up that there was only fate... You couldn't accept that. Why?"

With her earlier irritations at him, Rhyme might have all too easily started yelling for help (or might have even risked clocking the Composer of Shibuya one), but the way he sounded so unsure of himself now... the way his eyes looked into hers so sincerely... Rhyme could think of nothing she'd rather do than tell Joshua exactly what she'd realized when she'd first met him.

Taking a deep breath to calm her racing heart, she did just that. "Because I don't want to believe I was fated to love you. Fate is something bad, Joshua, but destiny… Destiny's something even I can strive for. Even _with_ my broken dreams."

There was a minute pause at this, in which Joshua undoubtedly thought over whether he wanted to say something unkind to Rhyme's words. In the end, he seemed to settle on sighing and replying," You're an idiot. You know that?"

And though Rhyme dipped her head, and hid the slightest bit for Joshua's cruelty, she could see the slight smile that replaced Joshua's characteristic smirk.


	2. Spy

**Spy**

"What are you playing at, J?" Mr. H asked Joshua so casually that it almost seemed he _was_ only asking out of curiosity. Joshua, however, knew better than to fall for such a thing. And despite the non-caring lilt to Sanae's voice, or the calm way he examined his Uno cards, Joshua knew his mentor was absolutely livid. Particularly intrigued now, Joshua raised an eyebrow particularly to egg him on.

"Why are you hanging out with Rhyme? It's not like you. Usually, you'd be one to think she's a spy, and wouldn't even dare keep her at your side." There it was: The slight disdain in Mr. H's eyes that he was clearly trying to hide under his shades.

For a moment, Joshua debated on putting a hand on his cheek and regarding the Angel with his usual snotty attitude. He might have done so, too, if he wasn't so miffed. Why he was so irritated, though, he couldn't even begin to imagine.

"A lot's changed since Neku's Reaper's Game," Joshua muttered as the rain streamed down the windows outside, and he mentally calculated how he could make Mr. H skip five turns in a row.

"Yeah. I guess it has, but you don't think of it as his Game anymore do you, Joshua? You think of it as her-"

"I don't know why you're troubling yourself, dear," Joshua deadpanned as he flipped one of his curls, and landed narrowed eyes upon Hanekoma. Changing the suit to blue, Joshua continued on unperturbed. "After all, dear Neku is more prone to think of spies than I am. He did think that Shiki was one on his second day, you know."

"True. And yet he's better off than you are. Why's that?"

For those harsh words, Joshua decided he wouldn't give Sanae the satisfaction of seeing his anger. Instead, he shrugged nonchalantly and acted like the incapable child he'd pretended to be around Neku.

Still... Mr. H had it all wrong, and the young Composer couldn't help but glancing at him with a bit of betrayal in his eyes.

As Joshua ended up looking around WildKat's interior, he could see signs of Rhyme everywhere. Digging out his cell phone he snapped a picture of where she'd spilled her house blend over by the counter that day. The picture of her laughing... Joshua would hold onto it forever. And as he held the phone to his chest, he could only hope he'd see her happy the next time they met, too.

Outside, the rain ebbed just the slightest bit, and the sun that broke through was the same shade of a certain girl's hair.

**Author's Note: So, I've apparently lost my mind and have decided to do fifty one-shots/drabbles/stories/etc. for Joshyme. We'll… see how this goes. On one hand, Joshyme needs more love (and I've started many stories for them, anyway), but on the other… This challenge can be kind of taxing. Especially when you're working on other stories. So, yeah, updates may be sporadic (if I update at all).**

**Anyway, feel free to suggest prompts. The two above I got from a word generator, but I'm open to suggestions, so review and tell me what you want:) If not, I'll just use an one-hundred theme challenge or something. IDK.**

**And as I'm writing these, I'm realizing how bad my first 100 Theme Challenge was. Gah! My grammar sucked! No one read that anymore!**

**So yeah, review and hope I get inspiration for this. My muse has been on vacation lately, but maybe this'll help?**


	3. Epitaph

**Author's Note: This one has a bit of Kingdom Hearts 3D: Dream Drop Distance spoilers in it. If you don't want to be spoiled, I'd play the game before reading this, but if you don't care (or have already seen the Traverse Town scenes), then read on my friends. Enjoy.**

**Epitaph**

She was doing it again, Joshua mused. Smiling at him as if he was her favorite person in the world, and that just by his acknowledging her… He had somehow made her day significantly brighter. Knowing her, that was most likely what her smile _did_ mean. Still, he was unable to stop the villain within him from glaring at her and muttering distrustfully, "Your kissing up to me isn't going to make me spout a lovely eulogy for you when you die. I've never become an eternal epitaph for anyone else, and I most certainly won't for you."

Once again, Joshua suspected Rhyme's answer should have been predicted by him, but for once, his clairvoyance didn't alert him to what she might say; for the first time that Yoshiya Kiryu could remember, he was left reeling as the Noise started surrounding him in swarms. To think, the Noise were from his emotions, too! When was the last time that had happened? Ugh.

Pushing the thought aside, Joshua quickly pulled his fingers away from Rhyme's locks; he'd been pulling at the strands and debating on dipping her hair in ink. Schoolboys had once done such a thing to annoy girls, after all. At the moment, though, Joshua didn't even have it in him to feign being cruel. As it was, he didn't know what to say at to Rhyme's words at all; In fact, he wasn't sure he wanted to say anything. That _had_ to be a first.

"I know, Joshua," she had said. "But did you ever think that my being nice to you is my way of commemorating _your_ death? As closed off as you are, I can't imagine too many people went to your funeral, and I-"

Despite how "closed off" he was, there didn't seem to be any other justifiable action in Joshua's arsenal then, other than to pull Rhyme into his arms and kiss the top of her head in gratitude and a strange bout of amazement. At least one person loved him...

Even though he'd never admit just how lonely he truly was, Rhyme's easy acceptance of him made Joshua feel as though he could rest easy. Not enough to pass on, however. Never enough for him to leave Shibuya, but it was still nice.

"No one was ever even aware I died," the Composer said albeit sadly while he listened to the Music and wasn't surprised to find it had a sad tune, too. "It's terrible how unobservant people can be, don't you think? At least I don't have to worry about such things with you, Raimu." And though Yoshiya would never sink so low as to tell her aloud, he hoped Rhyme understood what he was truly thanking her for: her kind heart and feelings for him.

And she must have, because the girl soon stood up on her tiptoes and kissed Joshua on the cheek. Usually, he would have pulled away in indignation. But today, as a haunting melody was coming out of AMX alongside the Music of people's thoughts, he was strangely glad for her kindness. And… He couldn't shake the feeling something terrible was about to transpire.

As Joshua pulled Rhyme even closer to him (as if to shield her from the storm that was coming), foresight prickled at the back of his mind, and despite what he'd said, Joshua knew he'd become an eternal epitaph in every sense of the word.

Allowing his face to show the first bit of shock it had experienced in years, Joshua saw his future self amongst a crumbling Shibuya. It was then that he knew he would fight until his last breath to keep his friends alive. To keep _her _alive.

Suddenly, keeping Rhyme's memory alive didn't seem like a good enough plan at all. She needed to live, and he… He would save her._ He had to_. Losing was not an option for him. The world needed one such as her. And maybe… Maybe Rhyme's dreams would end up being her salvation as well as his own.

Joshua could only hope and dream… Dream like Rhyme once had.

**Author's Note: Ugh. I probably seem like I'm ripping off Requiem of the Goddess with this, but I'm not trying to. LOL.**

**In all honesty, I've wanted to post something like this for a while. I mean, I can't be the only one who was surprised by all Joshua did to save his friends in 3D. That's some MAJOR character development for him. Man, I want to see that happen in a TWEWY sequel (if there ever is one, I actually think we'll play Josh and see him get his humanity back somewhat). And, of course, I was happy with the Joshua and Rhyme interactions in that game, so I had to write this. LOL.**

**Anyway, the chapters after this should get longer and more in-depth with these two. I think. I'm still trying to figure out how I want to go about this.**

**Also, if you haven't seen this comic on deviantArt "[TWEWY] pieces of their dreams" by Crystalicia go look at it now! It's absolutely brilliant and sort of the inspiration behind this. Seriously, it's what gave me the idea that Joshua might have kind of become an "eternal epitaph" like Lightning did.**

**Well, that's all. Please review.**

**Have a good day, everyone.**

**-Shanna**


	4. Summer

**Author's Notes: First of all, I'd like to thank everyone who's been supporting this story. I especially appreciate all the prompts people have given me. Without them, I probably wouldn't be able to update at all. LOL. So thanks a ton, everyone. I hope you'll continue to enjoy this story.**

**Anyway, this prompt once again has DDD spoilers. In fact, it sort of connects to the previous one, so if you don't want to be spoiled, now's your chance to turn back. Otherwise, enjoy!**

**Summer (requested by PMiller1)**

It was an interesting thing to Rhyme. Though she had no memories of her own to speak of, she knew that the light that had engulfed her (and taken her away from Sora and Neku) seemed off in more ways than one. It felt… so familiar and gentle, but how could that be? Rhyme didn't know anything.

Though Rhyme wasn't sure how she'd ended up in the Reaper's Game, or Traverse Town for that matter, the warmth that was enveloping her made her feel completely safe. In fact, it almost seemed to speak of summer. In a world as cold as night—a world that she could be erased in without a moment's hesitation—Rhyme felt lighter and happier than she'd ever been. When her blue orbs landed on amethyst ones, it all began to make sense.

"Hello there, Raimu," the odd boy said civilly enough, whilst waving to her. It wasn't lost to the young Bito that the moment this boy began talking, the magic surrounding her dissipated.

Still… She could still feel the comfort the light had provided. Or rather, she could still feel the comfort emitting from this boy. It was such comfort that Rhyme didn't even feel nervous about walking over the glass floor (that could all too easily break and send her plummeting to her death). Instead, Rhyme headed over to the mysterious boy with a hint of wariness in her steps, but little by little the wariness disappeared.

Likewise, the boy seemed in a hurry to jump from his perch and smile at Rhyme. It was a simple reaction for her to smile back at him. "Raimu, dear," the boy muttered with a calculating look on his face; as one of the boy's hands smoothed over a piece of her hair, it felt so right that Rhyme could only gape in shock. Either the motion went unnoticed by the boy or he just didn't care. Rhyme was kind of thinking it was the former. "It seems I'm in need of your Dreams again. You've already given me too much to hope for, but I'm afraid I need them once more to free you and your friends. Will you give me your Entry Fee?"

"Of course. Especially if it'll stop that man in the black coat from hurting my friends." For a moment, something seemed to flash in the ashen haired boy's eyes. Though Rhyme got the distinct feeling he was, in fact, dangerous, she didn't feel worried for herself at all. Instead, his anger seemed to be for the person in the black cloak. The person who had come to her with a strange proposition…

Perhaps fearing what might have happened if Rhyme had said "yes" to the assailant's ploy, the boy said annoyed, "You're far too trusting, Rhyme. People can use that against you, you know? And you really shouldn't trust me. Not after how I- Anyway, I'm just glad you didn't say 'yes' to him, but you've always had good sense."

"I'm not too trusting, Joshua," Rhyme said not even noting that she somehow knew this boy's name. "I know just who to trust. And I know I can believe in you. I'm already dreamless, so you must already have my dreams. Still… I don't feel hollow at all. I feel a sort of love coming from you."

And though Joshua would attempt to cover it all up by ruffling Rhyme's hair, and telling her they needed to go meet the "ADD Sora." She didn't miss the bit of sadness in his eyes, but also the hopeful smile that crossed his lips. Maybe Rhyme was saving him from the winter, too. Though he had an icy exterior, Rhyme couldn't help but feel Joshua was very much like metal. Maybe someday he'd end up warming up to her. Maybe he already had.

**Author's Note: So, I'd like to apologize for not updating much sooner, but I've had a bit of writer's block. Also, I've been trying to make stuff for SoKai Day. Speaking of which, I HATE Sony Vegas. There's no way I can finish my video now. And it's my best one, too! I might be able to salvage what I have, but well… We'll see.**

**And as you can probably tell, this fic takes place when "Rhyme disappears" in KH3D (really she was take by Joshua), and the two return after the fight with Hockomonkey. **

**For some reason, I don't think everything across in this one the way I wanted it too:( If you have questions, feel free to ask. **

**And PMiller1, if I totally failed at this, let me know. Then I can write you something else with this theme or another theme entirely. Just let me know:)**

**Also, go read Nix501st's KH3D Traverse Town fics on deviantArt. They're amazing and way better than this. In fact, it's because of that story that I posted this tonight, so yeah.**

**Man, I feel like I'm forgetting things I wanted to talk about. Umm… Yeah. That picture of Ms. Twewy after Solo Remix's secret ending. I wonder who she is. Hopefully, we'll get TWEWY2 news at TGS.**

**Shutting up now.**

**-Shanna **


	5. Tackling

**Author's Note: Once again, this has Kingdom Hearts 3D stuff in it. Well, just one thing, actually. Since it's not a spoiler, I think everyone's safe to read this prompt. Just imagine the TWEWY cast is in Shibuya after the events of DDD. Anyway, here you are, fellow Joshyme fans! I particularly love this one!**

**Tackling (for PMiller1)**

"I got it!" Shiki exclaimed in a way that seemed silly to Rhyme, as she dived for the baton hidden beneath the swirling depths. Of course, since her plea had given too much away, with an effective belly flop into the rich blue water, Neku came up with the pool toy long before Shiki had a chance to. Coming back up and grinning triumphantly, Neku waved the thing in Shiki's face. Though Rhyme knew it was to goad Shiki into doing something (maybe even playing chicken with him), his plan didn't go any further.

Suddenly, clapping her hands together to create a huge wave, Eri targeted Neku with her tongue sticking out. "That's what you get for teasing my friend, Nek-kun," Eri said humorously as she moved backwards in the pool to reach the shallower depths.

It very well might have been a good thing she had, too, because sooner than Rhyme's eyes could even follow (and that was saying something seeing as how Rhyme had grown up with her brother), Beat was suddenly behind Eri and picking her up in his arms.

For a moment, Rhyme decided to take in the knowing looks Neku and Shiki were sharing (one would have to be blind not to note there was something going on between Beat and Eri). But much more than that, Rhyme was forced to acknowledge she might just have to doctor her brother up when their swim time was over. Having finally succeeded in hitting Beat senseless, Eri freed herself before Beat could dunk her and landed gracefully on her feet... The same thing couldn't be said for Daisukenojo.

"Beat!" Everyone exclaimed at the same moment (though Rhyme would have sworn she said it first). All gathering around the skater now, the group helped pull him to his feet, and dislodged some of the excess water from his system. Still... There was no denying that Eri looked positively guilty, and when she turned her eyes on Joshua (who was staying out of the festivities), Rhyme could easily guess why.

"Oh, honestly," the ashen haired boy complained as he sun bathed. Pressing his sunglasses over his eyes more snugly, Joshua waved his hand in the air dismissively when he said, "Daisukenojo will be just fine, so don't ask me to heal him. The only thing he'll be suffering from is chlorine in his eyes, but so will you all."

As it was, that seemed to be enough to dispel Neku and Shiki's worry. Going back into the pool, the two were quick to begin a game of volleyball. Eri also looked reassured (Beat's reassurances of, "I'm fine, aiight?" might have helped with that), but that didn't keep the fashionably flawless girl from helping Beat out of the pool when he deemed he wanted a snack.

As everyone else became busy with something, Rhyme found herself interested in just what Joshua was doing. Though there was no denying his lawn chair and mirror made him look all to the world like he was tanning... Well, one would have had to be mental to not realize Joshua didn't seem to care too often about looking sun kissed. As such, Rhyme had the strangest feeling that he was hiding something. He hadn't swum with the group once since they'd arrived, and it was his pool!

"You look deep in thought, Raimu. Is there something I can help you with?"

"Eep!" Rhyme exclaimed when she was unwittingly pulled from her thoughts by, well... the person her thoughts were centered on at the moment. Smiling cheekily at this, as if he knew what Rhyme's thoughts were (and the youngest Bito surmised he very well could), Joshua pushed his sunglasses up onto his hair, and took a swig of his orange soda. Very close to Rhyme's face, mind you. Suddenly, Rhyme noted that her face had heated up a lot on this day, and she didn't think sunburn had to do with the warmth now. "I, umm- Well, I suppose I wonder why you're not swimming?" Rhyme stammered, as she fiddled with her fingers and looked anywhere but Joshua's hypnotizing eyes.

If Rhyme had expected Joshua would talk to her in circles (like he often did), she would have been wrong in this instance.

Stepping out of the chair and putting his loose articles and clothes on the ground, Joshua walked over to where Rhyme was still in the pool and—dear god—got even closer to her than he had been. "Well, there's a simple answer to that question. I'm sure you remember a certain Meow Wow from Traverse Town?" And when Rhyme nodded numbly at this (all the while wondering what Joshua was getting at), the Composer took that as his cue to continue.

Forming an arch with his fingers, Joshua related somewhat irritated, "Well, I found that even though Nightmares didn't attack me, Spirits still played with me, and... Let's just say I got tackled by enough Meow Wows to last me a lifetime. And when someone-" and here Joshua shot an accusing look at Neku, to which Neku smiled sweetly while giving Joshua the bird, "When someone does a belly flop in a swimming pool," Joshua continued on unperturbed, "Well, I'm reminded heavily of those ugly, fat cat things, so..."

Before Joshua could finish his sentence in the way Rhyme knew he would, _"I've decided I can do without swimming for the time being," _the younger girl was overcome by what she could only call her "Black" side coming out. Smiling as evilly as Joshua ever had, Rhyme had to all but restrain herself from rubbing her hands together in glee! This plan was too perfect!

And before Joshua could move away from the position that was about to be his downfall, Rhyme snagged Joshua by the necklace he was wearing, and pulled him into the water with her via the "dive" he hated.

_Well_, Rhyme thought to herself as Joshua resurfaced and glared daggers at her, _they say you need to face your fears to get over them._

Though Rhyme had time to wonder if Joshua was rethinking his diagnosis of Beat's fall into the water now (now that he'd experienced it himself), she didn't get the chance to think much else. Before she'd even gotten to run three steps away from Joshua (the look in his eyes made her think he was debating using a Jesus Beam on her), his arms were snaking around Rhyme's waist; using his Composer strength, Joshua made any chance of escape she might have had futile.

"You think you're so funny, don't you?" Joshua whispered into Rhyme's ear in a way that was surprisingly seductive. She would have been lying if she said she didn't shiver at the sound, but it may have had to do with the water getting chillier, too.

"Joshua, what are you-"

"Well test this, Rhyme," Joshua interrupted Rhyme in a malicious tone (much like she'd interrupted his spiel earlier to drag him into the water).

And before Rhyme could guess just what Joshua was planning, she suddenly found her lips occupied. In some ways, Rhyme was furious that Joshua was just doing this to get back at her (his big plan, no doubt), but as she realized the chlorine-y taste of him (and the feel of him) wasn't all bad, she noted this kiss was actually sort of... nice.

Idly, Rhyme wondered if he was somehow using his powers to make this kiss better than it would be regularly. When Joshua smirked against her lips, Rhyme thought he may have just answered her silent question.

Pulling away from Joshua before things could get too intense (Beat and Eri were just inside the house now, checking on their homemade Popsicles), Rhyme was surprised that she could regard Joshua with nothing but a smile on her lips, and in her eyes.

And Joshua... Joshua seemed to be smiling the tiniest bit, too. In the back of her mind, Rhyme knew that she still had her hands on Joshua's chest, but that wasn't as important as Neku and Shiki gaping open mouthed at them.

Suddenly feeling very silly and small, Rhyme was about to swim over to her friends and explain everything (whatever it was that had happened) to them, but when something in the form of a volleyball net hit Neku in the head, she was brought up short.

Fate really was a funny thing. It seemed as though Neku was now being punished for cheating in his diving game with Shiki, Beat had been punished for trying to dunk Eri, and Rhyme... Well, she wouldn't say Joshua had punished her. Not at all.

Smiling a small bit at the violet-eyed boy, Rhyme thought that maybe, just maybe, she wouldn't mind kissing him again someday. There was no denying that Joshua was fun, and he kept her on her toes.

It wouldn't be until years later that Rhyme would realize Joshua had used his Composer powers to bring the net down on Neku. Most likely to get back at him for flipping him off, but maybe, just maybe to distract Neku from the kiss he and Rhyme had shared. That magical kiss...

Looking at Joshua suddenly very cheery, Rhyme remarked, "You know, I never liked the way Frootz Cat would rub its tail in my face."

As Joshua raised an eyebrow at that, Rhyme thought all too soon, he would try to get her over her aversion to things in her personal space. Just like she'd gotten him over the fear of belly flops and tackling animals. It was all for the sake of mental well-being, of course.

When Joshua's smoldering eyes landed on Rhyme, she knew she wasn't fooling herself, either.

**Author's Note: Since I didn't really write about what PMiller1 wanted in his prompt last time, I thought I'd write this to make up for it. I hope everyone likes it:)**

**Keep the prompts coming, guys. The more the merrier. And I WILL get to them all eventually. **

**Anywho, I really love this one. See? This is why I'm glad I don't restrict myself to writing a hundred words for each of these (like you're supposed to in this type of challenge); I'd miss out on writing fun things like this.**

**Want to drop a review and tell me what you think? Maybe?**

**On another note, I'm sorry I haven't been replying to people lately! I feel so bad about it. Know that all of you, your comments, etc. mean the world to me! I love it all! And I'm going to try to get better at replying again! So sorry about that!**

**By the way, Frootz Cat is awesome. For some reason, that was my favorite Dream Eater. I used my Cephiro (the name of my Frootz Cat inspired by something in Magic Knight Rayearth) so much that it was ridiculous! But Frootz Cat is so cute! I have no regrets in loving it so much. Actually, all the Dream Eaters were cute. I'm sort of going to miss them (if we don't see them in future titles, that is, and we might see them again). **

**Anyway… It was so nice to write this sweet and fluffy Joshyme piece! Fluff is somewhat hard to do with them sometimes, but as we were dealing with fluffy Dream Eaters (kind of), I'm glad it all worked out in the end.**

**And Wonder Nyan is still a better name than Meow Wow. Just sayin'.**


	6. Silenced

**Author's Note: Warning. This piece shows the more tragic and darker side of Joshyme. If you are reading these one-shots just for fluff, I'd recommend leaving this chapter and reading the next ones I post instead. Thank you.**

**Silenced**

Joshua hid a smirk behind his hair when he, not only heard the Music of a certain denizen of Shibuya, but also took in the _clink_, _clink_, _clink_ of Rhyme's heels as she stomped angrily down the Trail of the Sinner. It was just as well, of course. Unlike her friends and brother, Rhyme had been the only one to not run into his lair, desperately, at the end of her Game. It only made sense that she would do so now… And many other times to boot.

As he was in one of his more amused moods, Joshua had to wonder if Rhyme had opted to start wearing high heels (who would have thought the tom boy would ever wear them to begin with?) just for moments such as these. Putting his hand in his front pocket for a change, Joshua crossed his legs whilst sitting back comfortingly in his throne. In 3, 2, 1-

"Joshua!" Rhyme shouted when she finally reached the Dead God's Pad, and shook off the feeling of her vibe being increased (it was the only way she could see him in the UG, of course; not that Rhyme would care to thank him in this mood). "How could you tell Neku, and not me, that you're killing people in the RG to, to-"

Oh dear. Rhyme was already getting to this? Well, well, well. He must have really frosted her cookies this time. How quaint. As Rhyme was becoming more of a woman now, she was positively cute when she was furious.

Like now for instance. Even if she were mad at him for doing something "morally questionable", the punch he'd most likely receive to the face would be well worth it. Really, though, he had to marvel at how she hadn't yet drawn blood with how strongly she was biting onto her lower lip. _You're quite glorious in your anger, Raimu. Even if it is a rare occurrence_.

Not being a total glutton for punishment, Joshua kept that last particular thought to himself. And instead, walked closer to where Rhyme was hovering uncomfortably above the Noise aquarium floor. If his heart hadn't stopped beating long ago, Joshua imagined he might have felt a smidgen of regret that she was probably remembering the Shark Noise that had Erased her.

Instead, the Composer of Shibuya crossed his arms over his chest and met Rhyme with a pout. Though he knew he was putting forth a chilly exterior, he didn't realize how could he was being until he saw Rhyme's breath. "Losing your steam so soon, Raimu? That's too bad. You mustn't beat around the bush. If you stay here too long without a Partner the Noise will get you."

And though Joshua didn't want that to happen (Rhyme had too much Imagination and potential), he had to admit that he wouldn't mind if she stayed in the UG. He needed someone like her in his Game. Even with… Their previous "history" together.

"And you don't even care, right?!" Rhyme snapped, as she seemed to wake up and jabbed her finger in Joshua's face accusingly. As he looked at the digit, he was torn between either laughing at her or breaking her index finger. He'd leave the latter for one of his more malicious days. He didn't want to break a sweat, after all. "What is wrong with you?! What happened?! How can you be like this, after- After… It's no matter. I'm not going to let you kill people in the RG. I won't!"

Sighing resignedly, Joshua sensed that this conversation wasn't going to end anytime soon. So being the good host that he was, he summoned a round table, a teakettle, and some glasses. Forcing Rhyme to sit down in a chair he'd provided before she could object (he would force her to stay if he had to), Joshua poured the momentarily dazed girl a glass of lemon raspberry iced tea.

Giving her a stirring stick to make sure her drink would be just right for her, Joshua took his own tea in hand and drank it tentatively. If he did this slowly, he would be fine with this particular drink. If he wolfed it down, however, he'd be reminded of times, of times- Well, it was no matter anymore.

"Try to understand reason, Rhyme," Joshua commented completely uninterested now, as he tapped the annoying stirring stick on his own glass, and mentally cursed Sho for stealing all his silverware for one of his works of "art". "We're having a shortage of Players right now. If I didn't intervene, my Reapers would have started dropping dead. These people were fated to die, anyway. And you should be proud, dear, that I chose the worst of them for this. So why you're so upset, I cannot fathom."

"That's not the point, Joshua!" Rhyme exclaimed with as much anger as Joshua had ever seen from her. Slamming her hands down on the table, she didn't just disrupt everything on it, but even sprayed herself with the scalding tea. That didn't seem to slow her down, though. If anything, it seemed to spur her on.

The liquid splayed on her face… Surely it reminded her of a time when they talked about fate in the rain. A time where Joshua ended up breaking all of his promises. "Destiny and fate is different, remember? These people… they could have changed. Or they could have changed their fate. You don't know that they couldn't, but you've ripped the chance from them completely! You've become everything you aren't supposed to! You've crossed a lot of lines before, but this one… There's no coming back from it! You've completely lost your humanity."

If Joshua had expected Rhyme to hold onto her anger for the majority of her rant, he would have been sourly disappointed. Though his amethyst colored eyes watched her in awe (he couldn't help it; Rhyme was being stronger than he'd ever seen her be), he found it was the last bit that hurt him the most. As Rhyme's voice dropped to a whisper, and she literally had to choke it out, Joshua felt what was left of his Soul being torn to shreds, but he'd never show it. He'd never stoop so low. Not for _her_.

And just like that, the temperature of the room dropped even more considerably, as Rhyme wrapped her arms around herself in anguish and something else, Joshua didn't even care. She deserved to be stuck with him in the coldest circle of hell. It was a splendid idea, really. She'd always been meant to be his Persephone. Even if she had removed herself from him.

"Get. Out. Rhyme. I won't give you another chance. If the Noise don't get you, I will myself if you don't leave. Shibuya's not your city anymore, righ-"

And for the first time in his entire life, Joshua felt himself being shaken to the core. His perfect composure wasn't just ripped away, but broken into splinters. Despite his threats on her life, Rhyme had…

Rhyme had seen it in her to leap across the table and catch the frozen Joshua in her arms. Before the Composer could decide just what he wanted to do about this chain of events, Rhyme was already pulling away from him, but looking into his eyes more bravely than she ever had before. "I still love you, you know. I always will, too. If only you could love me back, if you could love anyone bac-"

She wasn't crying. Even though Rhyme had cut herself off at the end, the tears weren't coming. Joshua wondered then if she'd decided she would never cry again. At least for him.

And in this one moment, he let his weakness show. He allowed himself to know just how much he messed up, and how much he truly loved this girl. He would always love her, too. And he rued the day he began seeing it more as a blessing than a curse. That was the most painful thing of all. Maybe he should have just been with Neku. They were so similar. But Rhyme… Rhyme brought out the best in him. And the worst. And though Joshua thought all the good in him had been sucked dry, he had enough "humanity" left in him for one thing.

"I can't love anyone, Rhyme. I have to be impartial to everything. It is my duty. Now leave and never return. If you don't, I'll kill everyone you ever loved."

Rhyme's face showed no trace of emotion as she numbly got up, bowed to her Composer, and had her heels _clink_ against the floor one more time. As Joshua watched her go for the last time, he regretted every minute of it. He regretted everything, but oddly enough, the thing he wondered the most…

Was if Rhyme knew he'd opted to bring back those he'd recently robbed, and never do such a thing again. The old Rhyme would have known Joshua like the back of her hand, but this wasn't his Rhyme anymore, and it was better for everyone to remember that.

Soon Rhyme would walk away from him completely, and in doing so, she'd finally be safe from him. The sun wasn't meant to live underground, and as Joshua listened to the last _clink_ of her heels, he also listened to her Music for what he knew would be the final time. Even now, her Music harmonized with his. And even now, there was nothing he could do about it.

You're wrong, Rhyme. I haven't lost my humanity at all. What but a human could be so powerless to have what they want more than anything?

As years gave way to eternity, Joshua was only able to do his job through one thing: The hope that she'd heard his last thought to her. But Rhyme wasn't his Reaper or a Player, so she probably hadn't. And as long as that were true… He could live with the rest. It was a lonely life, but a life all the same. A life where he didn't destroy what made the Music beautiful, and what he'd sought after so long ago: Rhyme.

**Author's Note: So, it's my personal belief that the Joshyme pairing cannot exist without moments like this. Because, let's face it, Joshua's a terrible person and completely effed up.**

**So, even though this ended with them never seeing each other again, this is usually what I'd write in my "the last and worst thing Joshua did to hurt Rhyme" book. **

**See? I have a whole head canon on how their relationship would go should it ever happen and work out. First off, Joshua and Rhyme would meet, but though Rhyme would want to help him, he wouldn't let her in for a very long time. Eventually they'd probably become friends and maybe even something more, but Joshua would be too damned stubborn and proud to ever admit he was falling for her. And all the while, Joshua would do stupid, terrible things that hurt Rhyme. Each time, she'd nearly give up on him, but wouldn't, because Joshua would show a little bit of remorse maybe. Oh! And then Rhyme would fear that Joshua was bringing out the worst in her (I imagine a lot of hard times for Rhyme, people). Then, they'd actually finally be together on good terms for a while until Joshua did something stupid like he did here. If I continued the relationship after this point, I would have Rhyme finally be done with Joshua, but finally, something might happen where Joshua finally note his stupidity, and tries to change and make it all up to Rhyme. If she forgave him, they'd probably have another good few years together before the whole "You'll have to die to be with me thing," comes into play. Which, of course, sets off another set of problems.**

**In the end, they'll be in for a lot of years, pain, but good times as well. And I have faith they'd work it out in the end, but that might be because I'm an optimist. And, oddly enough, I think all of their issues are why I like them. Huh. That's not very optimistic at all. LOL. Ironic.**

**So there you go. There's a look into my idea of Joshyme. Maybe I'll do a full story on it someday, but I don't know if I'm masochistic enough to write all that angst. **

**Anyway, I hope you enjoyed? And rest assured that not all the chapters will be like this. I won't promise there won't be similar chappies, but whatever. Expect lots of fluff, but maybe a few things like this to break up the cuteness. **

**Seriously. The last chapter was so cute, I wanted to show you guys that I don't only like "the fun times" for Joshyme. **

**Oh! And your requests are coming! I probably would have made this a prompt, but I didn't want to do a depressing one for someone unless they asked, so…**

**And on that note, I've wasted enough of your time. Shutting up now.**

**-Shanna**


	7. Shattered

**Author's Note: This chapter is post KH3D and deals with the Keyblade, but really has no other influences from KH. It has no spoilers, so everyone should be able to read this.**

**Shattered (for PurplePigeon121)**

Rhyme sat on the roof of her high school—that she had just recently started at—with her knees drawn to her chest. Her arms wrapped around her legs did little to shield her from the chilling wind, but mostly… Mostly the tears that trailed down her cheeks (that Rhyme thought very well might have been freezing the moment they were made) did little to lift her spirits.

Really, that was all it came down to. If she were her normal chipper self, then she would have been able to mentally ward off the cold. Maybe she would have visualized a tropical island or something. At the moment, Rhyme couldn't dream up anything, but that wasn't really the problem at all. What the problem was she couldn't believe things in her heart anymore.

And so, she sat up on the roof in the dead of night, as she desperately buried her face in her hands hoping to feel anything, really. Of course, the first thing she felt would be something that would just press her lips into a worried frown. Though the breeze did nothing to ignite something poetic within Rhyme, it did serve to pull her beanie off from her head, and dance it around her. Well, this was no good! Besides the fact that that was her favorite hat, the reason she really wore it was because she'd clipped her Player Pin to i-

"Aha! I knew you would take off that Pin sometime, Raimu. You can't keep me from the only good thoughts in Shibuya, you know."

"Joshua?!" Rhyme said surprised, as she gracelessly tried to jump for the hat—and more importantly, the Player Pin—that was just out of her reach. Though she wasn't feeling as sad at the moment, Rhyme did have to think on the fact that maybe this was all a moot point. Joshua had now peeked into her thoughts, and was seeing her fail at Monkey in the Middle. Really, what did she have to lose if he had insight into her thoughts from now o-

"You know, I thought Mr. H and I were the only ones to look for privacy in a place so high up. Apparently not. You see what not allowing me to read your mind has done?! Now neither of us will be saved my pathetic hero attempt."

"Pathetic… hero attempt?" Rhyme choked out, as she cocked her head to the side to take the strange boy in. She felt off kilter for more than one reason at the moment. Mainly that there seemed to be something behind Joshua's words, and he had actually broken tradition, and was holding a hand up, but smirking. How strange. Usually when Rhyme saw him stand in such a way, he actually wore a real smile. Just what was this boy planning?

Though Shibuya's non-existent lights illuminated very little (the city lights drowned them out), Rhyme thought she could guess what he was going on about. Did he… Think she'd been about to commit suicide? Though the thought was very laughable, Rhyme couldn't really shake the idea off. And shouldn't he have known now (now that he was reading her mind), that that wasn't her issue at all? No, it was something much more trivial.

"Yep. I don't much like chasing ladies' hats down like gentlemen in old movies, but I suppose since you're clearly distraught, I'll make an exception this one time."

"Oh!" No sooner than Joshua had started clicking buttons on his favorite orange cell phone, did Rhyme's hat stop being pulled by the air current, to land in her hands. Looking at Joshua from beneath her eyelashes, the young Bito meant to keep an eye on him while she checked something crucial. Turning her beanie upside down, it seemed that her Player Pin still sat there snugly. For some reason, that surprised Rhyme. Why did he allow her to keep her Player Pin when he could have just taken it away? Joshua had never liked someone thinking they had powers over hi-

"You're being sillier than usual, Rhyme," Joshua tisked, as Rhyme took the moment to sit beside the curious Composer. He seemed smug, but that was nothing new. The real question was, what was his real motive for being with her? Surely he didn't give a damn about her hat, so why- "I believe you would say, 'the heart wants what the heart wants'. It's not like you to question adages, Rhyme, so why do you think you deserved a Keyblade?"

And there it was. The reason Rhyme was on this roof in the first place. The reason she'd been upset. At the moment, though, Rhyme couldn't fathom why she'd been bothered in the slightest. Not when Joshua was sitting by her with a bored expression, as he looked out at the three visible stars. Still, even if he were bored, Joshua was here when he didn't need to be, and that was certainly something. Smiling slightly, Rhyme began explaining her reason for a lack of a smile earlier. "See? This is why you don't want to know my thoughts, Joshua. I'm not as good as you think I am."

Welp. That seemed to ignite something within the young god. No longer looking bored in the slightest, his violet eyes locked onto Rhyme's unflinchingly. The blond girl also noted his hand had clenched, but he still said pleasantly enough, "Oh, really?"

Knowing she should be wondering just what Joshua was plotting now (but knowing she'd never figure it out), Rhyme decided to shrug as nonchalantly as she was able, and continue on without pause. "Well, yeah. I really don't know why I'm telling you all of this, Joshua. I know you already must know by now, but I suppose I was jealous of the Keyblade wielders we met in Traverse Town. Though I knew I'd lost my dreams, I'd held onto the belief that I still had hopes in my heart. But if the Keyblade is a weapon of the heart, then I must have been wrong. I'm not one of the chosen, and I guess all of my dreams really are shattered."

"Oh, dear. It seems I was right. If I don't cheer you up, you'll continue to leak tears on my favorite institution of angst." Rhyme had been about to tell Joshua that she knew it was wrong to feel hurt when she had so much that others didn't, but that comment nipped that right in the bud.

Before Rhyme could make a clever comeback, however, Joshua was already standing up, and forcing Rhyme to do the same. "You're so silly, girl. You have dreams, Rhyme. Couldn't you use Dream Eaters? You're always fine, but the moment you start thinking about it all, _that's_ when you trip yourself up. Did you ever stop to think that maybe what I really took from you was your belief that you have dreams? And Keyblades are overrated. Their wielders are pretty much damned from the start. You shouldn't want to be one, Rhyme. I gave you your life back and I expect you to live it."

"Joshua-" Rhyme began to shout angrily, as she slapped Josh's hand on her shoulder away. But taking a moment to breathe in some fresh air, and really think things over, Rhyme suddenly realized that maybe Joshua was right. Though she wouldn't put it past him to lie with what he was saying, he'd really had no reason to come and talk to her tonight. And he had. He'd cheered her up albeit his own strange way, so there was really no need to be mad at him. Really, there was only one thing she wanted to know now. "Why does it seem like you're harder on me than the others?"

As Joshua turned his attention back on the few stars they could see (and Rhyme did the same), she half expected him to say something cliché as, "Because you can shine the brightest."

What she got, however, was something completely different. Smiling evilly in a way that instantly had Rhyme backing away, Joshua pinned Rhyme to the railing that kept people from falling off the roof, and whispered very dangerously, "Because you won't even mind when I take advantage of your state, Crying Girl."

And before Rhyme could ask just what the heck that meant (and note his answer didn't answer her question in the slightest), she suddenly found herself being kissed. Though her first idea was to run away and retract every nice thing she'd thought about Joshua tonight (she hated it when he got all creepy like this!), she thought, albeit reluctantly, that maybe he did deserve some sort of thanks. Especially after everything he'd done for her and her friends. So in that, she may have wrapped her hands around his neck and put more pressure into the kiss than she'd originally intended.

No sooner had she done this, however, was Joshua pulling away and licking his lips like the cat that got the cream. The moonlight especially made him look eerie, and Rhyme very much wanted to punch him in the face when he dubbed her "cute" and patted her on the head before disappearing.

Ugh. Just what had she gotten herself into?! And did her lips suddenly feel chapped? She was going to have a right time explaining that to Beat in the morning!

And Joshua… Had he planned this from the start? Just what were those boys' motives? Did anyone know?

Carefully climbing down from the ladder, Rhyme wondered if maybe it would be best to "not be like Joshua", and therefore never sit on her school roof again. She might have chosen that, too, but something about their encounter made Rhyme opt to come to the school every night instead.

Though she would have liked to believe she was doing it to bring out more of his humanity again, Rhyme wondered if her actions were just because he was such a good kisser. Well, that was a worrying thought, wasn't it?

Shivering slightly, Rhyme thought one thing before looking up to the sky where she expected a smirking Joshua to be at. _Yes, it's a good thing I have my Player Pin. I don't want Joshua getting an even bigger ego, now do I?_

**Author's Note: So here's a cheerier Joshyme. At least, I hope it is. Somehow, the mood I went for with this completely changed. Also, I have no idea where this idea came from, but I kind of like it. Oh well. I hope you liked it, though, PurplePigeon121. And everyone else, of course! And I'll get to other prompts as soon as I can.**

**On a sadder note, my laptop seems to have died for the moment:( And I'm sort of depressed about it. Why does this always happen to me?! I was making an awesome comic, too! Fortunately, it might be able to be fixed, and I saved my most important files from it, but I still lost a lot. Please pray it gets fixed with me, guys. I'd greatly appreciate it.**

**Oh. In case you're wondering why I don't update this more, I'm working on a secret KH story. I think I mentioned this before, but I don't think I went into a lot of detail about it. Anyway, it's coming along rather nicely, all things considered. So hopefully I'll be able to finish it. In fact, it might become my longest story yet. I'd tell you guys what it is (as it's dedicated to people, and I think it'll make certain friends of mine very happy), but I have a certain issue with the story, so I don't want to promise or show anything until I know I can deliver it. So, yeah.**

**And, Josh (Kutlessrocker), if you're reading this, how have you been, friend? We haven't talked lately, and I really miss you. I hope you're okay. Love ya!**

**Oh! So Once Upon a Time's back on, which is good because Rumbelle gives me Joshyme feels for some reason (so it might help me write for this collection). Especially with this last chapter. And even with this one, I listened to the song from the video: "Once I Was Real :: OUAT/Disney" by ImNaturallySuper on YouTube numerous times while writing it. Seriously, go watch that video now. Even if you don't know OUaT (which you should, since it's a great show), you can still enjoy that video, because it compares the Disney movie people with their counterparts on OUaT. So awesome…**

**Anyway, I'm going to stop rambling now. See you guys later! And please pray that my laptop gets fixed. Thank you.**

**-Shanna**


	8. Dance

**Dance (for PurplePigeon121)**

Rhyme stifled a laugh, as she walked through 104 with Shiki and Neku to do some Christmas shopping. It seemed as though Shiki was always, in one way or another, looking into glass windows wide-eyed, whilst taking in the latest fashions. More likely than not, she was dreaming up the perfect gift for Eri. It really was sweet how Shiki held such a child like fascination, and Neku—bless the boy—wasn't even pulling Shiki from her child like wonder, while he was forced to carry her bags.

If nothing else, Neku at least had his headphones and Rhyme for company, as Shiki unintentionally left them out to text Eri. At one point, Rhyme thought about poking fun at Shiki for fogging up the glass windows as she looked into them. However, as the thought almost seemed too Joshua like, she thought better of it. Joshua…

"Pfft. I thought we were supposed to be secretly shopping for the others. So why is Shiki undoubtedly spoiling all her gifts for Eri?" Neku muttered from behind his collar, while he slumped in a bench alongside Rhyme. Just a moment ago, Shiki, perhaps realizing she hadn't been paying attention to her friends for a short while, had opted to go buy everyone chocolate covered pretzels from a vendor outside.

Honestly, Rhyme probably would have offered to do so to give Neku and Shiki some alone time, but as her legs were rather sore from all the places she'd been dragged, she just gave Shiki a heartfelt "thank you" and agreed to watch her stuff.

"You know, when I was here with Josh last time, he seemed to like those dancing sugar plums; you should consider getting that for him, Rhyme." Suspiciously, Rhyme looked at Neku out of the corner of her eye, and wondered if he was implying something. She thought she'd done well to keep her peculiar relationship with Joshua a secret, but she'd never been too stealthy, had she?

Not helping her case, Rhyme instantly blushed a bright pink upon remembering the sort of "dancing" she'd done with Joshua the last time they'd hung out. Surely Neku didn't know that, right? "Actually, I think Shiki has the monopoly on that device, Neku. Did you see the way she was looking at it? She takes the words 'window shopper' to a whole new level."

And here, Neku and Rhyme shared an amused glance at their friend's expense, who seemed to be taking a lot of time with the pretzels. Rhyme was about to go check on Shiki (it was snowing rather fiercely, after all), but suddenly, she had to wonder if Shiki had really gone to get pretzels. As Neku's amused look turned to one of concern, Rhyme was left slumping in her seat for change, and blowing a strand of hair out of her face. She'd been set up, hadn't she?

"Rhyme," Neku said gently, as he removed his headphones from his head to give Rhyme his full attention—good god! This was serious, wasn't it—and met her with one of his more protective gazes. "I don't know if I like the idea of you hanging out with Joshua. And not just because Beat would kill me if he knew, but Rhyme, you have to know he has a gambit on everyone, and-"

Though Rhyme was wholeheartedly trying to pay attention to Neku (it wasn't often that he opened up to anyone), and she knew he was just trying to be a good friend, she found she couldn't focus on what he was saying at all. Instead, with mixed feelings, she recalled the second interaction she'd ever had with Joshua. They'd talked about gambits then, too, but in a different sort of light.

"_Joshua, don't tell me you have a gambit on this bread. Sure you're entitled to stake claims on things with your Composer powers, but you have to draw the line somewhere, Crazy!" Rhyme exclaimed excitedly, as she brandished the piece of bread she'd just over baked at Joshua like a sword. _

_Just a moment ago, she'd tried to prove the Composer wrong: that all pocky was was baked bread dipped in chocolate (Joshua had believed there was a lot more to it than that). Her failures at cooking aside, it still seemed she was wrong. Not wanting to admit that, though, to Joshua of all people, she had instead opted to throw chocolate in his face to distract him. _

_And so, the most epic of food fights had begun. The two danced around each other with finesse, as Joshua no doubt used his Composer powers to make his aim surer, and Rhyme seemed to use a bit of her Imagination. _

_About fifteen minutes later, they had had different condiments more so on the walls than each other. As such, Rhyme had had to admit that Joshua was a worthy adversary. In a last ditch effort to win against him, she'd meant to bonk him on the head, but he'd grabbed her far too easily. He'd spun her around via her arm, and suddenly the two found themselves locked in an odd sort of embrace._

"_You know, Rhyme," Joshua said rather emotionlessly, as he moved a strand of Rhyme's hair out of his face, and Rhyme tried desperately to hide her blush and step away from him. "I'm glad our friends got tired of our little debate and just went to buy pocky. You may never admit you lost, but I still find that I win."_

"_Joshua-" And though Joshua was smirking in a way similar to what Neku had warned her of, Rhyme couldn't find any trace of malice within it. Rather, she was just curious to know what he was getting it. _

_Alas, the opportunity for her to know never arose, as Neku, Shiki, Beat, and Eri came back with all manner of snacks. Picking out a strawberry flavored pocky and munching on it, Rhyme had been able to say one thing to the Composer, amongst their friends' questioning glances. "Maybe so, but things might have been different if I'd opted to make strawberry pocky instead."_

Rhyme was pulled out of her reverie when Shiki finally appeared and handed Rhyme a pretzel bedazzled in sprinkles, icing, and chocolate alike; for Neku, she handed him a regular pretzel rod, but gave him coffee with much more going on with it than Rhyme's pretzel. With Shiki linking her arms between Neku and Rhyme's, the three friends began walking out of the store and into the harsh winter.

Smiling apologetically at Neku for not getting the chance to really answer him, Rhyme patted him on the shoulder and said, "Thank you, Neku. I'm rather tough from hanging out with Beat, but it's nice to have someone note my vulnerabilities. Even so, I think I might take your advice and get that gift for Joshua."

And it was there in Neku's icy eyes: that he knew she was saying she could handle Joshua. Frowning slightly, but going as far as to hug Rhyme's shoulder when Shiki was a little ways a way, Neku said (in his own special way) exactly what she needed to hear. "Maybe that's best. Shiki was concerned, but we all know Shiki can be eccentric at the best of times," Neku muttered upon eying his coffee warily. Like Rhyme's pretzel, it wasn't even close to what he'd ordered, and Rhyme had to laugh with him at the silliness of it all. "Anyway, who knows? Maybe you'll be good for Josh."

And when Rhyme took a bite of her pretzel—how surprising to find that it tasted of strawberries!—Rhyme found that Neku just might be right. To that end, Rhyme found herself debating on how to casually invite Joshua over to make strawberry pocky at her house. Maybe it would do well to show Neku and Joshua both that she could win things.

Grinning a little to herself, a smile that Shiki easily returned (and Neku tried his best to grin a bit), Rhyme knew that the next time she got into a fight with Joshua, she would come out the victor. Or at least in her own head. But since Joshua could read her mind, she'd still be the winner, wouldn't she? Yep. She was a worthy adversary of Joshua, indeed.

**Author's Note: Ugh. I'm sorry if this sucks, PurplePigeon121. But I had a hard time seeing Joshua and Rhyme actually dancing, so I improvised. Maybe I can get it in in another chapter? IDK, but I'm sorry if this let you down.**

**So here's an earlier (at least via the flashback) Joshyme story for you all. You know, I really liked this at first, but when I came to finish it today, I feel I lost what I was originally going for. Hmm… Anyway, I might expand this later on.**

**Basically what's happening here is: Joshua invited everyone over to his house to hang out, but he and Rhyme got into a weird debate about pocky (because Beat mentioned he was hungry for some), and they wouldn't shut up about it. Everyone else getting sick of their fight, just decided to go out and buy some dang pocky, and leave them to their silly-ness. As for Joshua and Rhyme… Well, you saw how things escalated for them. LOL.**

**Oh! And the reason it's just Neku, Shiki, and Rhyme shopping is because they're shopping in groups. For example, if they wanted to buy presents for Beat, it wouldn't do to have him there to see what they bought, would it? Thus they have to do their shopping this way.**

**Honestly, I like the Neku and Rhyme moment here. I think those two would have a cute brother/sister relationship. I also thought it might be nice to mix things up and have Joshyme in the background for a chapter. Oh! And to have Neku question Rhyme about her "relationship" with Josh the way Mr. H did Joshua earlier.**

**Well, I'm going to stop ranting. I hope this was half way decent. And if you haven't read my, "One Sky, One Destiny" story yet, please do. I want some opinions on it; I think it might be one of the most meaningful things I've ever written, so yeah.**

**Thanks for everything, guys!**

**-Shanna**

**P.S. I hope Josh doesn't seem out of character, but we know how he loves to win/be right and make others look stupid. And while I don't see him normally getting into a food fight, I imagine Rhyme got way too much chocolate on his person here, and he sort of cracked. I also think Rhyme would bring out a fun loving side of Joshua (part of the reason I love the pairing), so I hope it makes sense? Gosh, I just realized Joshua and Rhyme's relationship would consist of them fighting about every big and little thing. LOL. **


	9. Pleasent

**Pleasent**

Joshua did his best to not sigh outwardly as the tenor of Rhyme's Music reached him. Even with her wearing her Player Pin, he could still pick up the emotions that laid deep within the girl's purest of pure hearts. Of course, it was in knowing that she really wanted to help him—maybe even pitied him!—that made him hate her all the more. Why couldn't she have been like Neku and just use this… embarrassing moment to hold over him or something?

Because, really, as the snow danced around Joshua's hair making it even more windswept than usual, he found that this was not what irked him the most. No. It was that somehow the white flakes landing on his parents' tombstones made them look even older. They looked cracked, unattended, unloved… The list went on and on. It was clear by how Joshua was here now that he'd really cared about his parents, and that was something he'd never wanted anyone to know. Least of all Raimu Bito who blew every "nice" thing he did out of proportion. There had to be some sort of way to shoe her away…

"I'm here for you, you know. I'll always be here." Rhyme whispered, as she buried her hands further into her sleeves. Upon close inspection, Joshua noticed she wasn't wearing gloves at all, but rather one of those hoodies where there were holes in the arms for one's thumbs. Wasn't she freezing? Why wouldn't she wear mitt-

Oh, of course. She was poor, wasn't she? Well, that wasn't his fault. And it was even more reason that he didn't want her out here with him. And what was that? Warm apple cider she was offering him? As if he needed such nonsense. He'd spent so much time in the UG, he could barely even notice the elements when he was in the RG.

Giving the other few people in the graveyard a once over, Joshua was able to figure out that Rhyme often helped tidy the place up as part of one of her club's activities. Well, she'd missed keeping his dear parents graves, hadn't she? Not that he cared. Not in the least. He was only in this cold, dull, waste of space around Christmas because… Well,

"But Raimu, dear," Joshua said as he flicked one of his strands of blond hair into Rhyme's face to annoy her. Adopting one of his most condescending looks, Joshua figured the perfect way to play her. It was like how one might skillfully play a piano. Yes, this would definitely send the uninspiring girl running away from him; without a thought of ever returning: "I thought you didn't approve of the Games I play with people. Much less my parents. Now, take your uselessness and that cider and be gone, would you?"

Yes. He would let her think his parents had played the Game, and he had Erased them. That would get rid of some of her stupid ideas sooner rather than later. This was all just collateral damage, anyway, and so…

"Joshua, will you fill me in?" Rhyme asked as she, surprisingly, made no indication that she wanted to leave. To the contrary, she put a hand on the young Composer's shoulder, and stretched out on the ground alongside him.

Ugh. Even though she didn't have gloves, it seemed as though she had a snowsuit on. Well, that was just dandy. Now she could pester him as long as she wanted to without getting _too_ cold. Joy. And if he was judging the swaying plastic bag beside them correctly, it seemed as though Rhyme still had a lot to do with cleaning the place up. Meaning, she was going to be here for a long time. Fantastic. Absolutely fantastic. And to make matters worse, she was still yammering on about:

"Please, tell me what your home life was, and why… Well, to be quite frank, I doubt you played a Game with your parents. You wouldn't associate with such commoners, Your Grace. Isn't that what your parents taught you? Why-"

Oh, dear. It seemed as though he should have paid better attention to her face and tone. Though Joshua would never let her know how well she'd succeeded, the fact was that she'd just hit the nail on the coffin in two ways, actually. One: That he wouldn't have allowed such filth in his Game. And two: That he'd gotten that haughty sort of attitude for his parents.

Yes, the girl was clever, indeed. And becoming more like him everyday. Maybe he ought to have done something about that. Why, he almost felt proud of her! Pure and utter sarcasm, of course, but if nothing else, at least she wasn't a doormat anymore. Rather, she was a hardwood floor. Something that people still walked over, mind you, but something you could hurt yourself on if you weren't careful.

And as delusional as it was to think so, Joshua found that maybe he, too, should no longer underestimate her. And so, feeling his heart grow just a wee bit during this Christmas time, Joshua wasn't completely antagonistic, as he regarded Rhyme with a smirk and raised eyebrow whilst giving her some sound advice. "It's the strong that need to be pitied, Rhyme. Not the weak. And as you're not much of a force to be reckoned with yourself, get out of my sight." There. That should tide her over for a while. Not only had he taught her a good life long lesson about betting on the winning horse, and survival of the fittest, but also he'd no doubt just filled her "I-need-to-see-Joshua-be-nice-at-least-once-a-day" thing. Maybe _now_ she'd leave him in peace.

Or so Joshua had thought, until he heard Rhyme laughing, and pushing his shoulder playfully. That laugh… was way too similar to his own. He only ever used it when someone made a gross miscalculation. Smacking Rhyme's hand away in irritation (though she'd never know that; she'd just think he'd reached his "allowing-people-in-his-personal-bubble" limit), Joshua wondered what foolish thing he'd just said, and that perhaps it was a bad thing that Rhyme was becoming more like him.

"Pitied? Did you really just say 'pitied?'" Rhyme asked, as she sat on her haunches now, and looked at Joshua with absolute mirth. He was going to have to do something about that. As he threw just a bit of snow at her (and had stupid flashbacks of the second time they'd met), Joshua thought he might have gotten back to her just a little bit. Or not.

"Joshua, don't you see-"

Aaaaand, there was no getting her off of that category was there? Clearly she now knew he pitied some people, at least, and perhaps his parents. Though there was much more to it than that (and Joshua would kill anyone before they knew his true weaknesses), he had to admit Rhyme had learned more than enough. And still, he couldn't fault her for it. In fact, he almost felt he owed her now. At least he'd be more cautious of slipups in the future.

And what was this? Was he actually feeling real pride for her now? Well… This was interesting.

Giggling a little to himself now, Joshua put a hand on his cheek, and batted Rhyme's own hand (mainly to mimic her), before opting to call a Spade a Spade, and let Rhyme win this round. "One day, Rhyme, if I haven't driven you away with my awfulness yet, I will tell you everything. Until then, I'll tell you one thing. One thing I want more than anything, and I think you know what that is."

As Joshua drawled the last part out very slowly and seductively, he leaned close to Rhyme's face, so it almost felt as though their eyelashes were brushing. Or maybe it was just the snow touching them. No matter; what really mattered was what Joshua knew this girl would be focusing on: The fact that their lips were almost touching.

Making sure Rhyme's face was red because of his advances, and not the cold, he finally took his leave of her the way he'd wanted to all along. Snatching the cider from a startled Rhyme's grasp, Joshua explained that, "I want that cider to turn to wine, but I never want to have to imagine what you'd be like drunk, dear. That's too fearsome a sight. And so, I will be taking this from you, and bidding you adieu, Raimu Bito."

And as he did just that (with Rhyme's astounded face watching him all the while), Joshua did two things. First off, he raked his hands over the places Rhyme had touched him. Annoyingly, they felt all tingly, and he loathed the day her family bought her that awful snowsuit instead of gloves. The feel of her skin… Wasn't entirely unpleasant, but it was definitely something he didn't want to have to think about.

Secondly, he used his powers to return Rhyme's plastic baggy back into her hands. It had flown away from her, and though Joshua wasn't heartless enough to want her to get hit with the shovel, as he sent it to her telepathically, he didn't turn around to watch the reunion. However, he did smile at the mental image of a too-nice-Rhyme embracing her temporarily lost snow shovel.

Many years later, Joshua would realize that that had been the only time he'd smiled that day. That day that had been his birthday, but more so his former death sentence.

Maybe… Maybe Rhyme could help him find light in other things too. Someday. That would be nice at least. Even if she was a moron.

And so, the Composer returned to the UG with the smile still in place, but with no more trifling thoughts about the RG or his former life, but he found he did think of Raimu Bito some. It wasn't entirely unpleasant, and to be honest, he didn't know which was worse. Being bothered by her or not being bothered by her.

Well, this was a first. Him not knowing something… It was definitely a first. And it sort of felt good.

"Mother, Father, I wish I wouldn't have known all that I did. That way you wouldn't have died. That way, you might have actually loved me."


	10. Fanning

**Fanning**

Coming into WildKat from a very frustrating day of running the Game, Joshua felt his shoulders sag, as he breathed in resignedly. With the scum that had ended up in his Game this time, Joshua didn't think that any of them were going to prove they deserved their life back. Unfortunately, that just brought even more problems into fruition. After all, if he didn't start reviving people soon, he was going to lose his seat.

Though Joshua thought the higher beings probably should have known he wasn't planning on erasing Shibuya again, the fact remained that if he showed himself to be flip-floppy again, well… Yeah. Perhaps the richest thing to Joshua was that the Angels weren't mad that he'd decided to put the city on probation, but that he _hadn't_ gone through with his plans of destroying it. To them, Joshua was much too emotionally invested and willy-nilly about things. Though Yoshiya really had to wonder what the Angels were on to think the last bit, he had to admit the first claim might have been true (to his chagrin, of course). Perhaps he was getting too close to a certain group of ex-Players…

At the moment, though, Joshua decided he wasn't going to think about such things. He was going to drink in some of Mr. H's horrible coffee, and hide away from the horrible storm that had blown in. How Joshua _hated _snow! In fact, he thought he probably would have been in the UG safe from it, if the Underground weren't a reminder of things he didn't want to think about. Ugh. This was all so frustrating! And he felt like he was getting a cold, too!

"Look what the cat dragged in! J, what are you doing here? I thought for sure you'd want to stay in the UG, and attuned to what's happening on the High Plane."

"Sanae, though it may be known I have a certain taste for theatrics, even I need a break now and then. Make me the usual please, and don't hold out on the whipped cream. Now, what are _you_ all doing here?"

And sure enough, to Joshua's surprise, all of the Hachiko group _was_ present. How had he missed such a thing? Clearly he was off of his game, and a vacation probably would do him some good. Joshua was half tempted to ask a certain Angel when he'd become a foster home for imaginary friends, but as Sanae was currently glaring daggers at him for stealing all his whipped cream, he thought better of it.

"We're watching some movie of Rhyme's. Don't ask me why we're doing it here," Neku said oh so helpfully. Of course, the correct answer that Neku refused to say was that he was CAT's biggest fan, even if he'd never admit it (plus the fact that Mr. H would let the group hang out all day at WildKat, so long as the bought coffee during the time).

Joshua was about to point out how cutely Neku had piped up when Sanae had said the word "cat", but he was suddenly distracted when he took in the scene around him. Neku was listening to his headphones. Obviously. But during the time he wasn't fiddling with his MP3 player, he actually seemed to be paying attention to the movie. Shiki and Eri were texting and didn't seem into the film at all. Really, though, as they sat there giggling to each other, he had to wonder if they were into anything at the moment that wasn't their truly _inspired_ conversation. At least they were kind enough to give him a curt nod, Joshua mused (even if Eri was trying to play matchmaker with Neku and Shiki, and Shiki was begging her friend not to do something embarrassing).

Moving his attention over to Beat, Joshua noted that he seemed into the movie for the most part. But the way he scratched his head at some of it, and was looking over at Rhyme a lot, told Joshua that he was really doing it all for Rhyme's sake. Clearly he hadn't been a fan of the franchise before they'd begun watching the film however long ago. However, after their hangout time was done here, Joshua had the feeling that Beat would be the most fluent fan around. Joshua could kind of understand his desire to please Rhyme so much after having lost her… Almost, anyway.

And then there was Rhyme. Wow. Joshua had never seen her like this before. As close to the screen as she could be, Rhyme (for once) seemed completely oblivious to the world around her. Though Joshua did want to act mock-offended Raimu for not even noticing his presence, he stopped himself in realizing he was actually too tired to be a jerk for once (well, that was a first), and she actually looked cute being the eager beaver.

If only he could tell what they were thinking, though. Clearly he needed to steal their Player Pins when they weren't looking. It looked as though he was going to have to wait to see what movie was play- Wait a second. Was tha- Yes, yes it was. Grinning from ear to ear, Joshua knew exactly what Rhyme was watching and why everyone's reactions were as they were. As a fan of the film himself, it would have been inexcusable if he didn't know that, "You're watching Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, huh? I didn't take you for a fan Rhyme. Especially of Mad-Eye Moody."

"J-J-JOSHUA!" Smirking, Joshua had to resist the urge to laugh when Rhyme turned around hastily, and not only knocked over the popcorn bowl, but nearly pulled the controller out of the PlayStation 2 when she tripped over it. Though Josh had no idea why they were using a PS2 to watch the movie, he was almost glad for it. For one, he could now tease Rhyme forever in having tripped over it. As Neku would say, "Never let a schoolgirl do a gamer's work." Err… Something like that.

Anyway, the real reason Joshua was glad that the PlayStation 2 was plugged in was because… Rhyme being so out of sorts, and falling over it, was surprisingly cute. He still giggled at her, though. A lot. Then, when Rhyme seemed to be embarrassed long enough, Joshua decided he'd be civil. Putting a hand up palm forward (and still giggling every now and then), he told the youngest Bito, "No need to go into cardiac arrest at my presence, dear. It's appreciated, but not needed. It's too much work to bring someone back to life, you see. And I'm afraid your brother would erase me if you were in the Game again." As Beat cracked his knuckles threateningly, and shot Joshua a look, the young Composer knew he'd surely guessed that sentiment correctly.

"Now, Raimu," Joshua said, as he literally kicked Neku off the couch (and as he had to go sit with Shiki now, Joshua wondered if he'd end up hooking them up before Eri), Joshua patted the seat next to him for Rhyme to come and sit. "Come here so we can talk, Raimu. Being that close to the TV's bad for your eyes and ears. You can tell me all about what House you're in, but I must say I'm surprised you're a fan. Furthermore, I'm surprised to see you fangirl over anything." Out of the corner of his eye, Joshua thought that Shiki and Eri were rolling their eyes at him. Just what did that mea- Oh. Right. They were fangirls. Welp, it looked as though he'd just insulted them. Oops.

"I am not a fangirl!" Rhyme exclaimed surprisingly, and though for a moment she looked defiant, her face quickly turned repentant when she undoubtedly realized that she'd sort of insulted Shiki and Eri, too.

Thankfully for her, though, Shiki and Eri ignored the jibe. Instead, they looked absolutely thrilled as they smiled at each other, and then at Rhyme. "You _are _a fangirl, Rhyme," Shiki laughed whilst hugging Mr. Mew to her chest. "And it's only a matter of time before you come to cons with us and stuff."

"Although, you'll have to stay away from Neku and Shiki, Rhyme. You know they'll cosplay as a couple. Ash and Misty, maybe? Anyway, you'd totally mess up their spooning if you tagged along, Rhyme!"

"Shut _up_, Eri!" Shiki growled, as she began hitting Eri with a pillow for her joke. Watching them amusedly, and _really_ wondering now just who was going to convince Neku and Shiki to date (Joshua's clairvoyance told him it would be him), he counted down the seconds until Sanae broke up the fight. Three, Two, -

Wait. What was this? Neku was breaking up the catfight? Well, that was shocking. Didn't most boys fantasize about such a thing, and Neku was- "If I kiss Shiki will you two shut it already?"

"Neku? Wha-"

Before Shiki could say anything else, it seemed as though Neku's lips had found hers. And it also seemed as though Mr. H's mug (that he was about to give Joshua) found the floor, as everyone watched on in shock. Being the first to recover, Beat was instantly demanding that Neku and Shiki, "Cut it out, yo! Rhyme's watchin', man!"

Though Joshua did have to admit the pair was cute, he had to agree with Beat on this one. Too much PDA was _not_ a good thing. Especially when most of the group present viewed each other as siblings. Speaking of siblings, as everything else went to chaos around them, Joshua found his attention returning to Rhyme.

Blushing slightly, and kicking her feet to and fro, she seemed a bit nervous. How odd. "Good for them," Rhyme choked out, literally, because as she got the words out, she began having a bit of a coughing fit. In fact, Joshua was about to help her, but fortunately she recovered fast enough. And here the Angels thought Joshua was a flip-flopper. Pfft. Yeah right. Hadn't he brought Rhyme back to life, and had been prepared to save her again just now? How was that inconsistent? Surely the group around him was more out of contro-

"So, we were talking about Harry Potter?" Joshua asked with an actual smile for once, as he pushed his previous thought aside. He was supposed to be relaxing. Relaxing! Dodging a thing of chapstick Eri was throwing a now free Shiki (though she was saying "lover boy" probably needed it more), Rhyme nodded her head, and looked at Joshua apprehensively, as she probably assumed he was about to interrogate her. Well, if she had that little faith in him, maybe he would. Where was a desk lamp and wooden, rectangular table when you needed one?

"Uhh, yeah. Mad-Eye Moody," Rhyme began, most likely remembering where their conversation had deterred. "I never really liked him before, but the way he points and his head and tells you to think… Well, I feel that made me a fan, oddly enough. Using your head's always a good thing, I mean. And he can be fun. The real Mad-Eye Moody! Not the imposte-"

Cutting off Rhyme's panic attack before she got close to death again, Joshua remarked truthfully, "Using your brain's always a good thing, yes. Even if Mad-Eye is a bit… eccentric." At the look Rhyme was giving him as she nodded her head, and looked to the right (no doubt recalling a memory from the books), Joshua thought she was probably agreeing with him. "Who knows? Maybe I should get a mechanical eye like that. Not that I need it, mind you. But if it inspired any of people in this city to think more…"

"I can see you chucking an eraser at someone's head if you were a teacher," Rhyme laughed, as she put her hands over her lips seemingly to try and hold in her laughter.

And as the strange image popped into Joshua's head, he found he could agree and laugh with Rhyme a bit. "Indeed, I can too, dear. But I fear we're being rude. Let's include Neku in our discussion, shall we? Since he _is_ a closet fan."

"Shut up, asshole. I'm listening to my music… while wrapping my arms around Shiki apparently." Perhaps Joshua had been too quick in assessing the world had been being too cruel to him today. After all, as Neku was scolded by a perturbed Eri "to treat his new girlfriend right", Joshua could only snicker at his friend's predicament, and thank the Angels that it wasn't him in that situation.

It only served Neku right, Joshua thought. Neku had no right to berate his former Partner just for noticing the truth he'd had been too embarrassed to admit. That secret, of course, was that dear Nek-kun was a Harry Potter fan, and thus that was why he'd been discreetly watching it while listening to his music earlier. It was all too perfect, really! Now Joshua had something new to beat Neku in: Hogwarts knowledge. Neku would end up ruing the day he picked Joshua as his rival…

Of course, it was the thought of Joshua's ever going arguments with Neku (not unlike Harry and Draco's ), that reminded Joshua of something that had been back in his head all day. Rhyme.

It really was strange that the light, happy little girl would be a fan of the series. Especially since the books were quite dark, and showed some of the worst in people. But, then again, maybe that was why Rhyme liked them. However, if she thought she could fix a fictional world, then they really had a problem. Looking back on her Game now, Joshua wondered if maybe he should have tried to change Rhyme's point of view a little more before bringing her back to life. "What's your House, Rhyme? Surely you've been on Pottermore?"

Though there was some real weight placed behind the words (as Joshua was really beginning to think Rhyme's kindness would kill her), he still played it off as a joke when he poked her on the arm. Luckily, Rhyme didn't seem to read too much into the question and even smiled a bit at it while blushing; this effectively made Joshua wonder why he was worrying about refining souls at such a time. Maybe he really didn't know how to take a break, huh?

However, as a feather took that moment to dance in front of Josh's eyes (one that wasn't from a pillow), it seemed to say that Sanae knew how to take breaks. And as he was gone now, he clearly most have chosen to get out of dodge from the "crazy teens", before one of them accidentally ruptured his spleen or something. Clever man…

"Me? I'm Ravenclaw," Rhyme said at last, and though she ducked her head and seemed to be getting ready for Joshua to belittle her, he found that he was instead feeling an odd sort of pride. If Rhyme wasn't Hufflepuff (like he'd thought her to be), maybe he didn't need to worry about her being a doormat as much, after all. Of course, the key words in that sentence were "as much".

Though Joshua meant to poke fun at Rhyme a little bit for not being in the house that had been the first to protect Harry during the War of Hogwarts, he found instead, that he was mulling over having Shiki make robes for them that wouldn't clash. After all, "You know Rhyme, Slytherin and Ravenclaw get on quite well. We're both more ambitious in certain areas. Though you aren't a Pureblood like me, I might just allow you into the Slytherin common room every now and again."

It was only after the words had left Joshua's mouth that he recognized them for what they really were (he blamed his clouded head, and the chaos of his friends, for not having guessed it sooner). The truth was, without even meaning to, Joshua had just accepted Rhyme's presence in his life. The life of the Composer. Though it went against everything he was supposed to do, or had even wanted to before, he found he actually wasn't completely upset for having her as a weakness. Maybe if she could make the Dead God's pad just a little bit less… well, dead, maybe it would all be worth it in the end. Furthermore, maybe Raimu Bito was Joshua's ticket to an escape and fun times. Who would have thought it?

As Rhyme clutched her hands to her chest (and Joshua could almost picture her holding The Goblet of Fire there), she locked her eyes onto Joshua's; at that moment, with the look she was giving him, the Composer wondered if Rhyme had read _his_ mind somehow. Looking all heartfelt, Rhyme subconsciously licked her lip before preparing to go into some long spiel about the books (or so Joshua suspected).

But, before she could even get a word out, Beat (who had long since been forgotten by Joshua), piped in with his own two cents. Yep. Joshua had known that he was going to regret Beat's attempt to connect with Rhyme through Harry Potter, and he definitely did now. Crossing his arms over his chest, he met Beat with a bit of a glare.

"Man, I can't help feelin' this series 's too dark for Rhyme. It makes m' feel like I ain't protectin' her, yo. I won' tell ya to stop readin' them Rhyme, but jus' stay away from the' Slytherins."

As Beat turned his attention to what was happening with everyone else (it seemed as though Neku and Eri had gotten into some sort of heated argument that Shiki was trying to diffuse), Joshua and Rhyme shared a look. Though Yoshiya had no idea if Beat had been listening when he'd said he was Slytherin, he found he still had to laugh about it. And so did Rhyme too, apparently. Though Joshua did have to admit Beat might have had a point about Rhyme staying away from Slyterhins and/or Composers, he found he was happy to have her around just the same… And selfish enough to keep her around no matter what Beat said. Not that Rhyme seemed to mind, though.

Yep. It seemed Joshua had added another great friend to his arsenal (just like Nekky-kun), and for the rest of the day, he didn't think about Angels, the Game, or the filth of Shibuya. Instead, he thought of just how much he and his friends could break in WildKat, to get back at Sanae for being a coward and leaving them.

**Author's Note: ****So, I've had this idea for a _long_ time. Mainly because when I did watch The Goblet of Fire the last time, I did see Joshua having an appreciation of Mad-Eye for some reason. I had no idea it would end up this long, though! Seriously. This is the longest prompt yet! Originally, I thought this was going to be short, but I should have known the Hachiko group would steal the show. **

**Wow. Joshua didn't steal the show for once. I chalk that up to him being tired. LOL. That and also why he was being nice-ish, normal, and less possessive of Nek-kun. LOL. **

**And yay! We finally have a fluffy, normal moment with Joshua/Rhyme. Enjoy this chappie for what it is, people. With me, you never know when it'll come up again, since I tend to write darker Joshyme stories (unintentionally). That being said, I did try to make Joshua lighter in this. Mainly because Nix501st characterizes a light Josh so well, and has reminded me not to always make him so serious. Hopefully I did decently? I tell ya, it's hard to characterize that kid! Anyway, this is dedicated to Nix501st just for being awesome and inspiring this piece a bit. Hope you like it, hon. –hugs-**

**Also, I thought it should be known that my NaNo novel isn't over yet. Since I reached the target word count, I thought I'd take a break and post this, but you probably won't see me again until December. I apologize, but I definitely can't wait to see you all again!  
**

**By the way, the "never leave a schoolgirl to do a gamer's work" is inspired by a line in WaterAngel-Alyssa's awesome "The Uber Epic Adventures of Neku's House" story.**

**See ya all later, and thanks for all the support!**

**-Shanna**


	11. Wuthering Heights

**Author's Note: Rhyme's a bit older in this, so I thought I'd tell you that to clear some things up. This prompt starts off angsty, but gets pretty fluffy. Enjoy.**

**Wuthering Heights**

Rhyme hummed a song to herself (though really it seemed more like a funeral dirge to her), as she got ready for an event she didn't want to think about. Really, she told herself, she was being silly. Prom was not the end of the world. Nor was going with the lovely person that she was. Yukito had been one of her best friends for many years, and she was thrilled to be going to her school dance with him. None of this was her current problem.

The real troubling thing to Rhyme was that… She didn't look at all like herself in the reflection she saw in the mirror. Once again, she knew she was being ridiculous, but she couldn't help but scrape her heels against the ground uncomfortably at the thought of all the fanfare. Of course, Raimu knew that there was time in every girl's life when she began wanting to look a bit better than she did. She was an avid reader of Harry Potter, after all, and so she knew as well as Hermione had that the moment for her to become a woman had come, so why then- Why did she feel like she was losing herself to better herself?

Maybe… Maybe these thoughts had nothing to do with beautifying herself, but still had something to do with Harry Potter. Maybe she knew it well. Closing her eyes and sighing, Rhyme hid behind the truth that was right before her.

"I hate my hair," Rhyme groaned, as she tried unsuccessfully to gel a few strands of her hair down. Maybe Shiki and Eri were right. Maybe if she didn't wear her beanie all the time, her hair would be more cooperative. Rhyme felt her teeth worrying her lip at the thought of putting hair gel into her locks; she had always thought that was something that boys did, not girls. So maybe she didn't know as much about dressing up as she had thought, but since hairspray wasn't working, maybe she would have to suck it up and-

"You know, Rhyme. I'm inclined to think you're going to start making sheer shaped Noise with how strongly you're holding those pair of scissors. Want to tell me what's wrong?"

Raimu gasped in shock upon hearing Joshua's voice come from behind her. As goose bumps began rippling up from her shoulder to her neck, Rhyme found herself gulping. How in the world… How the heck had she registered Joshua's voice before seeing him in the mirror? Since sight was the primary sense humans relied on, she thought she really should have seen him first. Unless all the talk about Music with Joshua was making her ears more attuned to sound. What a worrying concept… Rhyme didn't want to be a Reaper at all. And it wasn't as though she could hear the Music, anyway. So…

"I warned someone to make sure you aren't harmed, Rhyme. I didn't think I'd have to warn him to protect you from yourself. Now, stop clutching those scissors so tightly. Here,"

Before Rhyme could really comprehend just what she was doing and what all was happening, she suddenly found Joshua's hand was on her fingers trying—desperately, it seemed—to pry the hair sheers from Rhyme's grasp. Though the youngest Bito really knew she should have been helping Joshua (she had decided she didn't want to cut her bangs, after all; she remembered what had happened on that Avatar show when Azula had), her brain didn't seem to be functioning properly at all.

As such, she couldn't even send it the simple instruction to let go. And thus, she was somewhat hurt. However, as Rhyme's mind became slightly less clouded, she resolved that she wouldn't tell Joshua such a thing. He was strangely looking out for her, and so… She didn't have the heart to tell him that she cut her hand on the blade when he finally wrestled her hand free. Instead, she stared blankly as the scissors clattered to the floor. Useless.

As if reading her mind, Joshua's eyes seemed to look up from the ground and into Rhyme's eyes. For a moment, Rhyme thought she saw something in Joshua's expression—behind the mask he usually wore—but it was quickly replaced by his usually snotty attitude. As Joshua put a hand on his cheek and regarded her with a smug expression, she knew she was in for an ear full. However, she really didn't think she could handle it today. Not when she was already feeling bad enough for having feelings for a certain blond. A certain blond that _wasn't_ her date.

"You really shouldn't hate your hair, Rhyme," Joshua tsked, as he put one of his hands atop the one Rhyme had on her shoulder. She had to admit that it felt nice. And for a moment, she was able to delude herself into thinking maybe their relationship could work. Maybe they could find a way to be together without her having to become a Reaper. First, though, Joshua needed to learn how to love people properly. When Rhyme met his sincere eyes in the mirror, she thought maybe they had a chance, but that was before Joshua began trailing his hand down Rhyme's longer hair to land on her waist. "If you didn't have such nice hair, I couldn't hold it this way."

Despite herself, Rhyme found her eyes rolling back into her head the slightest bit at his touch. She tried not to moan, tried not to give him the satisfaction. Not when she was remembering why exactly she couldn't do this. Rhyme Bito cheat on her date (though she only saw him as a friend) on prom night? Ha! That was something she'd never do, something _Joshua_ would do, but-

Dear God, why did she think about Joshua so much? Even when she was trying not to? Pulling herself away from Joshua's embrace a bit reluctantly, Rhyme began desperately trying to busy herself with things. But more than that, she really did not want to think. She was cleaning up the little vanity Shiki had gotten her one Christmas, when she came across a blue ribbon she wished she'd noted earlier. Ugh. If she had, maybe she wouldn't have been thinking about her appearance enough to attract Noise. Maybe then Joshua wouldn't have-

Tying the bow over her unruly strands of hair, Rhyme decided to stop that thought in its tracks. Not only because she was trying not to think of Joshua, but also because she knew it wasn't true. Joshua may have used that as an excuse to visit her, but it wasn't the real reason he was with her at the moment. If it had been, he would have left by now, since those Noise would have been long gone.

However, as he still stood looking at her sadly, Rhyme knew the real reason why he was there. And though her head was screaming at her not to acknowledge him at all, she wouldn't have been Rhyme if she weren't kind enough to give him the benefit of the doubt. As the dear boy looked about as miserable as a half-drowned cat, Rhyme was about to gesture him toward her to hold her hand (ever since the cemetery, he'd seemed to come to enjoy her slight touch), but thankfully, even though jerky Joshua suddenly reappeared, at least it allowed him to talk to her without Rhyme having to throw her heart out at him. She'd done that enough already.

"You're fooling yourself, Rhyme," Joshua mumbled to himself with his arms crossed over his chest, and the sternest expression she'd ever seen on his face. There was also, of course, a touch of superiority to his tone, but when wasn't there? "If you think you care for your little friend more than me, you're sorely mistaken. I can hear it all in your Music, you know. Opposites attract, and who's more opposite than the two of us?"

God! He could be such a baby! Grr! At times like this, Rhyme couldn't fathom just what she saw in the Composer of Shibuya. He was a spoiled brat, and if Rhyme had a bit more of a backbone like Shiki and Eri did, she was sure she probably would have punished him for all the crap he did. Instead, she just wanted to help him. Her giving heart truly was her curse. Gah! Sometimes Rhyme could not stand the goodness in herself.

Whirling around to face Joshua so hotly that she thought she might be getting a fever—her eyes definitely seemed to be burning—Rhyme had meant to echo his pose and mumble some things herself, but instead she found something else entirely coming out of her mouth. Calmly, too. Huh. Now that was weird. "You told Yukito that if he hurt me, you'd kill him. I probably should be calling Beat to come beat you up for that, but strangely I'm grateful. Though I don't want you hurting anyone, it's nice that you're worried about my well-being for once."

And as Joshua's face quickly turned from shock to happiness in a split second, Rhyme felt the rest of her words come tumbling out of their own accord. That look on his face had always been the Joshua she'd wanted to meet. The one she'd known was buried beneath all the games and manipulation. _She_ almost felt filled with glee in just seeing it, but she needed to hold her ground. She needed to get a hold of herself, because Joshua had revealed this side of him too late, and though it killed Rhyme to say this, she knew she had to.

"But it doesn't change anything, Joshua. So please don't do this to me. Not now. Not again. God, this is all I've wanted for some time, but just because you've made a step forward doesn't mean you can make the rest. You can't love me, Joshua. You've pretty much told me that yourself. So please just stop. Whoever said it was better to have loved and lost than to have never loved at all was a liar!" So close to begging him was Rhyme, that she found her hands were folded at her chest, and she was leaning down closer to the floor.

As Joshua's lips began twitching, and his eyes lit up in mirth, Rhyme thought that she very well might hit her Composer. It would probably land her in the UG again (as Joshua would probably act to defend himself, and accidentally kill her), but at the moment she didn't care. Okay. So it was funny the way she'd gotten in that last adage of hers (because she had known that Joshua was about to ask her why it didn't change anything), but still. She was pouring her heart out to him, and _this_ was how he reacted in return?

As Rhyme put a hand on her mouth to try and stifle her sobs, she was horrified to realize that _this_ was why she'd been crying before. She hadn't even realized it herself, but the truth was that she wanted to be with Joshua and couldn't. Really, she imagined she had since the moment they'd discovered they shared the same fandom.

Furthermore, the dolled up girl she was becoming to be with Yukito—the pretty girl everyone seemed to want her to be—wasn't her at all. And with Joshua… She was no one but herself. Even though she sometimes thought he made her behave out of character, she was still… Finding a new way to be herself.

"_Only by allowing strangers in, can we find new ways to be ourselves." _

Suddenly, faster and more powerful than any epiphany had hit her before, Rhyme understood the real reason Joshua had come to see her. What he'd been trying to relate to her. But more than that, she realized what she wanted. It might not have been right, but for the first time in her life, Rhyme didn't care about making the perfect decision. This was what she needed, and this was what she was choosing.

"Joshua," Rhyme gasped aloud, and his name on her tongue had so many different meanings and emotions, she could only begin to guess at them all herself. For a moment, she had to revel at all the different things she was feeling for the ashen-haired boy.

Thus, her delay was probably the reason why Joshua didn't note that her choice had changed. Though her eyes were as sincere and sparkled as his a moment ago, he seemed none the wiser. Instead, he ended up leaning in very close to Rhyme (who was scarcely aware that she'd cleaned off all the items on her vanity, and he could sit her on it if he wanted to), and pushing her back against said vanity the slightest bit. As Joshua's mouth descended on Rhyme's she found herself forgetting everything she'd just been prepared to spiel to the boy in front of her.

As his tongue danced over Rhyme's bottom lip—she thought she tasted peach—she tried to arch closer to him and deepen the kiss, but alas he pulled away too soon. Much too soon. Really, the kiss had scattered her brain so much, Rhyme almost wanted to chew Joshua out for trying to manipulate her in this… pleasant way. But since her realization was still strong (and her head was still spinning a bit from the kiss), all she could do was lean her forehead against his, and rejoice when his lips whispered against hers. "What if I did change, Rhyme? What if I did say I wanted to be with you?"

And in that moment, when Rhyme was sandwiched between Joshua and her vanity, she became aware of many things (first and foremost being how painful her current position was, but she was pushing that thought aside for now).

As Rhyme looked into Joshua's eyes lovingly, while he looked at her imploringly, she knew exactly what to say. "Thank you." And that was not it! Blushing scarlet, Rhyme tried her darndest to not notice how Joshua was laughing at her, or how ridiculous she probably looked trying to cover up her blushing face. Dear God, Rhyme had promised herself she'd never do a Rory Gilmore, and yet she'd done exactly that. She could only hope and pray (as she stammered ridiculous things), that unlike Harry Potter, Shibuya's Composer didn't have time to watch Gilmore Girls. "And anyway, I blame the hairspray I used earlier for-"

Eep! Before Joshua could say anything mortifying to that like, "Rhyme acting like a girl? I never would have guessed!" Rhyme accidentally slapped Joshua across the face, in her haste to cover his mouth and shut him up. As he smiled against her lips, and even went as far to lick her hand, Rhyme suddenly found herself shaking in laughter, too.

What was with her tonight?! It was almost as though she'd lost her mind! Still, in that moment, Rhyme didn't care. She may have been a different person with Joshua (sometimes a worse one), but that version of her was still an extension of herself. A self she felt the most sure and special in… when she was with him.

Letting the severity of the situation reach her, Rhyme was serious for one more moment, and let Joshua know she knew exactly what _he_ was thinking for once. And it was that connection they shared that led her to choose him. "You know, if you give up on other people, you also give up on the world, Joshua. And I could never give up on you. Without you, 'the universe would turn to a mighty stranger.' I love you, Joshua."

Leaning her face closer to his, Rhyme cupped Joshua's face and guided his lips home to hers. It was the first kiss of theirs that she had ever initiated. But it would be the first of many.

**Author's Note: So, this got a bit more Rhyme-centric than I'd intended. Oh well. Sorry if Rhyme bothers anyone in this, but I meant to show that she has flaws and things to overcome, too. And a life outside Joshua and the Hachiko group. I don't know if anything like this will show up again, but we'll see.**

**Also, this probably takes place earlier in their time frame than you think. Basically, this is the first time Joshua and Rhyme actually start dating. They'd tried before in my head canon, but this is where it really starts. Of course, they still have a lot of obstacles to overcome. It's not a happy ending after this, which you all know by reading my later bits in this story. And Joshua's so not as nice as you guys might think he will after this chapter! Ha! "Joshua" and "nice" shouldn't ever be used in the same sentence.**

**By the way, despite what I said about none of these oneshots connecting, they're _all_ beginning to. Maybe I should change the description? IDK. You can still look at them separately, I guess. But it is all becoming one big picture for me, and it'll all make sense in the end. **

**You know, this whole thing kind of reminds me of Dani's "Celandines". Huh. Go read that story if you haven't! It's much better than this. LOL. **

**And I haven't forgotten about the prompts I've received, and Joshua's past I promised to write. They're all coming, but at their proper times. To tell the truth, I hadn't intended to even write this chappie yet. But I thought I'd throw you all a bone, and finally let you see the happy couple (and, yes, they're now official here). **

**Enjoy the fluff while it lasts, guys. (Especially next chapter, which should be the cute first date I've imagined for them for a while.) It won't last forever, but you know this. With Joshyme, you get the great and terrible from me. But it does make for an interesting story, I think.**

**Also, this is called "Wuthering Heights" for many reasons, but mainly because the last thing Rhyme quotes is from that. I'm getting better at having Rhyme quote things.**

**And kudos to anyone who guesses what song I was listening to while writing this. I bet Nix knows:)**

**In that regard, I'm sorry if all the kissing bothers anyone in this. But, as I've only had two other kisses in this story, I thought I could fit it in. Plus, they're older and acting more like a normal couple here, so yeah. **

**Welp, review guys. Hope you liked. See you next time.**

**-Shan**


	12. Keeping the Memory Alive

**Keeping the Memory Alive (for Nix501st)**

Rhyme smiled as she sat with Joshua inside of WildKat. While it was true it could have been for the warm weather outside, pleasant atmosphere about the two, or the fact that Rhyme somehow felt closer to her dreams around Joshua (which, of course, made perfect sense), the youngest Bito knew it was for neither of these things that she was so happy. Rather, she was enjoying helping the all-powerful Composer with math. Apparently, he was trying to figure out some sort of inter-dimensional equation for whatever reason. And though Rhyme usually thought it best to stay away from topics about the Game, she had to admit she was intrigued.

And so it was, that she ended up watching Joshua over his shoulder, and it was then that she noted the huge mistake he'd made. Trying her best to smother the grin she was wearing for catching Joshua tripped-up, Rhyme tapped Joshua on the shoulder, and before he'd even entirely turned to look at her, Rhyme was laughing and explaining, "You got this whole equation wrong, Joshua. It's talking about '4x', which in this case 'x' is eight. Therefore, this would equal thirty-two. It looks to me, you noted that 'x' is the twenty-fourth letter in the alphabet, and just multiplied that by 3, hence your wrong answer."

As it was, Joshua slammed his head on the table about as soon as Rhyme thought he would. Shaking his head in his arms, Rhyme watched him with a bit of sympathy clawing at her heart. Pulling up a chair beside him, Rhyme unconsciously began running a hand through his soft, curly hair. In the back of her mind, she noted she was a bit surprised he wasn't pulling away from her touch (but then again, they had been acting more and more like a normal couple lately), but mostly she was wondering how much sleep Joshua allowed himself. It had to be tiresome being Composer, and-

"That's it. Despite my lack of time lately, I _am_ going to make time to do this busy work Sanae gave me in the day... and not in the wee hours of the morning when I'm barely coherent. I haven't even really had time to eat anything lately, either." Her hand traveling downward from Joshua's hair to his neck, Rhyme found she was now massaging her boyfriend's tense shoulders, as he admitted pretty much what she'd already guessed. Even so, it was odd to imagine Joshua not finding time for his shio ramen; they would have to remedy this, surely.

Pressing a finger to her lips, Rhyme was hit by a sudden idea (one that, for once, Joshua seemed to not suspect at all). Feeling a bit of her own tiredness affecting her, Rhyme suddenly felt crazy, as she contemplated (giddily) how the dreamless girl of Shibuya was about to make one of Joshua's dreams come true.

"How about I make you a deal, Joshua? I'll look over some of your math work here, and try to help where I can, if you look at my report on Hamlet."

And just like that, Joshua was lifting his head from his arms and looking at Rhyme rather deviously. As her breathing hitched at the look, she suspected he was about to read her the riot act for endorsing cheating, (and she was inwardly cringing at the thought of looking at her report _another_ time). Imagine how surprised she was when Joshua, surprisingly, snatched Rhyme's report from her hand, and began looking at it instantly.

At once, Rhyme took the work Joshua had been doing, and tried her best to work on it. She didn't get far before Joshua was interrupting her. "Don't tell me you don't like the idea of crazy people, Rhyme. Why, oh, why, are you dating me then?"

At that question, Rhyme about choked on the end of the pencil that she'd stuck in her mouth in thought. Though Joshua never looked up from reading over Rhyme's report, Rhyme could sense the seriousness of the question. She was about to reply as urgently as she normally would have, but maybe she was spending too much time with Joshua or something lately, because instead of reassuring him entirely, Rhyme muttered instead, "I know you're not crazy, Joshua. You know it, too. And even if you were, I'd still be taking advantage of you, my friend Not only because a problem shared is a problem halved, but... It's not Hamlet's fake insanity in this that bothers me, but that it's one of _those_ plays. One where pretty much everyone dies in the end, and then one person is talking about what they learned from the tragic events. I _hate _those kind of stories. It makes reading it all seem pointless, don't you think?"

It was only after the statement left Rhyme's mouth that she realized the weight of her words. Joshua was the shepherd of dead souls, and of course he couldn't bring _everyone _back. Looking at Joshua out of the corner of her eye, Rhyme regarded him as apologetically as she dared. She didn't want him to think she pitied him, but...

Thankfully, Joshua must have been drinking in the nice moment they were in, too (or the fact that he didn't have to do any more algebra with Rhyme's help), because for once, he actually didn't respond to Rhyme cruelly. Instead, he just shrugged nonchalantly, and replied, "I suppose that's part of the reason I let as many people come back to life as I'm able to. Now come here, Rhyme. I need you to come look at this. Your wording here is _terrible_, dear. Besides, I'm sure I fit you much better than Mr. H's crappy chairs." And before Rhyme could object in the slightest, or even really guess just what Joshua was implying, she suddenly found herself being pulled forward, so she fell into his lap. At once, the suggestiveness of Joshua's words hit Rhyme full force, and while she blushed a ridiculous shade of red, she debated on punching Joshua in the arm for saying such a thing.

However, as he began explaining how she'd changed tense in a certain paragraph, Rhyme suddenly found she was laughing hysterically at the odd situation she and Joshua had landed themselves in. It was so stupid. All of it! Who ever would have thought that the Composer of Shibuya would fall for a Player that hadn't even won his Game? Seriously?! What were the chances of any of it? As unlikely as it was, it sure had happened, hadn't it? As bizarre as the situation was, Rhyme couldn't get the feeling out of her head that she and Joshua really were perfect for each other. Maybe it was just the nice feeling of Joshua kissing Rhyme's hand that made her feel this way, but there was no denying that the entire moment just seemed _right_ somehow.

Somewhere along the way, Joshua must have noticed Rhyme wasn't listening to him in the slightest bit, because just as Rhyme was debating on kissing him on the cheek, Joshua suddenly surprised her with a question; it was only then that Rhyme remembered she was supposed to be checking Joshua's work for Sanae. Immediately, she set to work on that, as she heard Joshua ask her, "How'd you get so good at math, anyway? Despite my stupid mistake earlier, this is work far beyond some of the world's best mathematicians."

Though Rhyme seriously doubted that (Joshua was just trying to flatter her), tucking a loose strand of hair behind her ear, she answered as truthfully as she could. "I suppose it's because when my parents were trying to teach Beat the addition and subtraction tables via flashcards, I was paying attention and picked most of it up early. I guess since I had an early start with it, I just kept improving, and-"

As Joshua gave Rhyme a curious look, she guessed there was probably something obvious she was missing. Nervously scuffing her shoes on the ground where they reached, it seemed to Rhyme that Joshua wanted to say something (maybe even something nice, since he didn't have a snobby look on his face at the moment), but instead, he just shook his head in wonder and took a drink of some new coffee blend of Sanae's. A moment later, Joshua offered a sip to Rhyme, and though she did want to know what he'd been planning to say, she knew better than anyone to not rush someone when they needed time.

So like she did with Beat, Rhyme simply indulged Joshua, and enjoyed her sip of the cherry coffee. It was quite good, and she really was enjoying her date with Joshua.

...

It was sometime later, when they got most of their work done, that Joshua scooted his chair away from the table (Rhyme had previously left to go clean some of the dishes they'd used while Mr. H was away), and remarked, "Rhyme, I fear we don't know how to do this 'date thing' right at all. Mostly, we just did our own version of homework. Let's go somewhere, shall we?"

"Oh?!" At the shock of Joshua's voice right behind her (how had he moved so fast!), Rhyme nearly dropped her glass to the ground. Catching it before that could happen, Rhyme glared at Joshua for sneaking up on her (but mostly for poking her side), before saying rather bashfully to Joshua's far too innocent face (he knew she hated being poked or tickled!), "I'd really like that, Joshua. Shibuya's so beautiful. I suppose I was just worried that you were tired of Shibuya, since everything you do is about i- Hey!"

Rubbing her forehead where Joshua had surprisingly bonked her, Rhyme found herself glaring at the boy again whilst pretty much expecting him to tell her she should have had a V-8 or something. Instead, he just smirked and said, "You can be so obtuse, Raimu. Shibuya is my city. Of course I love it, and what it's become. That's why I tried to get Neku to improve, I didn't want to-"

And there it was. The good person that had always been inside Joshua (the one Rhyme had always wanted to find). Though he had cut himself off, and was covering his mouth from his traitorous words, there was no doubt he really _wasn't_ the big bad Composer anymore. Rhyme had _thought_ that Joshua—in his Game with Megumi—hadn't really meant to destroy Shibuya and Neku, and now that he'd admitted it- Well, it was only natural that Rhyme found herself jumping to the Composer, and wrapping her arms around his waist, as she shouted his name happily.

Though shocked, Joshua did close his arms around Rhyme, too, and even spun her around a bit to put her back on her feet. Perhaps seeing the warmth and happiness in Rhyme's eyes, Joshua seemed about to say something (most likely to tell Rhyme he wasn't as great as she was now giving him credit for), but before he could ruin the moment, Rhyme put a finger over his lips. With a smile, she said, "Let's go to Ramen Don and get some shio ramen, Ringo."

With a smile on his own face, Joshua said exactly what Rhyme knew he would. "That's _your_ nickname, Raimu. But very well. You know I can never say no to that." All the way to Dogenzaka, Joshua actually held Rhyme's hand. But even more meaningful to Rhyme somehow... Joshua let her lean her head against his shoulder.

...

As Rhyme sat with Joshua at Ramen Don (all the while reveling in how far she and Joshua had come: that he had his hand over hers atop their table), Rhyme thought the only way she could describe her date with Joshua was one amidst giggles. Really, she had never laughed so much in her life. In fact, she knew for sure when Shiki and Eri asked her about her date, she would have to explain it exactly that way. It seemed as though Joshua was putting his Imprinting skills to good use. While he might have just been doing it to get rid of the drama amongst all the people so they could finally eat (their was a huge dinner rush for some reason), it still was nice to see him play "the super hero without the hero worship" as Joshua put it.

In fact, it almost made Rhyme have second thoughts about wearing her Player Pin around him. She could trust her boyfriend, and she was having so much fun! It felt nice to laugh and relax like this. Usually at home, Rhyme had to be the mediator when fights broke out between her parents and Beat. It felt nice to act her age for once.

"And you see that girl over there?" Joshua whispered in Rhyme's ear conspiringly. When Rhyme nodded her head upon noting the bleach blond in Lapin Angelique, Joshua explained with a wave of his hand, "She's never gotten flowers from anyone before. Her mother died today, too. So, instead of letting those flowers, from her secret admirer, get delivered to Ken Doi's nephew by accident, I'm going to imprint on the flower deliverer so he doesn't make that mistake."

No sooner had Joshua explained, did Rhyme notice the said flower-man come through the door, and head straight for Ken Doi's nephew at the cash register. At once, Rhyme saw the young man's face become angry. According to Joshua, if he _had_ gotten the wrong delivery, he would have quit today (because he'd thought Yuki, the blonde's secret admirer, liked him; the flowers would have reinforced such a thought to him). As Rhyme watched the blond girl's face become more and more tragic, and the cashier's madder and madder, she wondered if Joshua could even pull this off. She should have known not to doubt him, though.

As soon as Joshua'd dug out his orange cell phone, and opened up an imprinting screen, the flower-man seemed to realize the flowers were for the Lapin Angelique wearing blonde. Then, when the girl grabbed the flowers and her face lit up, Rhyme felt her own face lighting up just the same way. Likewise, the cashier turned to look at his uncle with a relieved look on his face... And noted that some of the meat was burning. Running immediately to the stove, he was able to salvage the meal, and... and-

"And now his uncle is going to give him a raise for his 'heroic' moment here," Joshua informed Rhyme, as he explained what she'd pretty much guessed.

Turning away from the would-have-been-train-wreck in front of her, Rhyme shook her head and smiled at the smirking, arrogant looking Joshua. For once, Rhyme thought Joshua deserved to have his snobby attitude rewarded. Blushing slightly, Rhyme squeezed Joshua's hand tighter and told him, "You're amazing, Joshua. More than just a great Composer, you just pretty much created a miracle, and I-"

"I'm no more amazing than you, Raimu. That math work you helped me with? Well, I lied about it. It wasn't about different dimensions. Rhyme, you helped me figure out how to make this outcome work. You don't give yourself enough credit."

In shock, Rhyme instantly looked at Joshua's face searchingly. She almost expected to find some sort of deceit on his features, but there was none. Just utmost sincerity. As Rhyme felt her heart start beating faster, she smiled (never knowing a better feeling than being flattered by Joshua). In that moment, she once again couldn't help but note how right it all felt. She also thought the compliment Joshua has just given her was probably what he'd been wrestling with all day. It couldn't have been easy for him to thank Rhyme for helping him with his problem.

While Rhyme sat overwhelmed by it all, and how much she loved Joshua, she tried to come up with the perfect thing to say to him in return. He seemed to be waiting for an answer, and though there was a lot she could have said, Rhyme knew she had chosen the right thing, when she saw Joshua smile and relax even more when she said, "We make great Partners you and I."

Patting a hand over Rhyme's, Joshua motioned for Ken Doi to bring them their own food they'd just had a part in saving. "That we are, Rhyme. That we are."

Curling her fingers around Joshua's own, Rhyme said one more thing, as the warmth of their hands seemed to warm her heart. It was even enough to make her love Hamlet. "I was wrong before. Maybe now I _can_ understand the stories where most everyone dies. Because just as long as one person lives after this, and tells the miracle you—we—pulled off today... keeping the memory alive is more than enough. More than enough."

**Author's Note: So, everyone should listen to He is We while reading this chapter. Seriously. I wrote this chapter to He is We songs, and it really just seems to set the tone, you know?**

**Also, Joshua calling Rhyme "Ringo" has to do with a later chapter. It's actually the chapter where they meet in this, as well asBlueRose729's "ramen" chapter. This, in some ways, is a continuation of that. Basically? "Ringo" has to do with the Wolves of Mercy Falls books. Cole calls Sam that in them, and Joshua calls Rhyme that the first time they meet. You guys will understand it all later.**

**Anywho, I adore this chapter! I've had the idea for a long time, and it came out exactly how I imagined it. It's so cute and fluffy! And it'll probably be the fluffiest chapter in this story, actually. The last bit (where Joshua and Rhyme are helping people) is somewhat inspired by what happened on Smallville's hundredth episode. I love/miss that show so much….**

**By the way, it should be known I absolutely _love_ Hamlet. It's my favorite story of all time, so I meant no disrespect towards it at all. I just thought Rhyme wouldn't like it (at first) for the reasons stated above.**

**And next chapter, we should finally be getting to the Neku and Joshua confrontation I've been promising for a while. There should be a Beat and Joshua one, too. Those are going to be so fun to write!**

**So, this chapter is dedicated to the lovely Nix, because I know in our conversations, you've talked about how romantic it is to keep someone alive in your memory. I hope you enjoyed it, dear.**

**And I hope you enjoyed it, all! Please review! I think this might be my favorite chappie yet.**

**Happy holidays, guys!**

**-Shanna**


	13. Poker

**Poker**

Rhyme laughed, as the ivory colored dog she'd been scrubbing the back of jumped out of the small tub. As the poor, affronted dear shook its fur in every which way, she got soapsuds all over WildKat! It seemed that whenever she was at Mr. H's place of establishment, it always got somewhat destroyed in one way or another.

However, as Jodee jumped out of the sudsy water to join his sister (and took a leaf out of her book, and shook the shampoo everywhere), Rhyme found it amusing that the soap wasn't really getting all over WildKat at all. It was getting all over Joshua! But then again, if she hadn't know any better... She wouldn't have recognized the bubbles on him at all. It was mainly because her boyfriend had taken to wearing some sort of long coat with curled fur around its edges. To Rhyme's eyes, it almost looked like the soap bubbles the puppies were getting everywh-

Oh. If the look on Joshua's face meant anything, he'd just realized that himself, and wouldn't ever wear that coat again. Thinking about it even more, Rhyme wondered—via a blush—if the weird way he'd been studying her had been because he'd wanted Rhyme to scrub his back like that! As ridiculous (and wrong on so many levels!) as the thought seemed to her, if he had been thinking something like that (and Rhyme just wasn't being silly), she imagined for once the thought wouldn't have had anything suggestive behind it at all. As Joshua scrubbed at his running nose for the umpteenth time, Rhyme imagined he would wish for anything, other than having to clean these dogs of heaven.

Almost in time with Rhyme's thought, the young Bito saw Josh snatch up one of the pups by the fur on its neck (Rhyme thought it was Sadie), as he threw one hand up in defeat. "That's it! I'm done doing this the traditional way. I don't care if using my Psych on this creature might make allergies worse; I'm going to groom him _my_ way!"

Fortunately, Rhyme was able to wiggle the poor, climbing doggy out of Joshua's hands before it could make out the maniacal gleam in his eyes, but as Rhyme smoothed out the fur Joshua had just messed up—and gave him an annoyed look for that—she found he had gotten Sadie's twin, while Rhyme'd been preoccupied, and was now putting some sort of pink substance into the bath water. Rhyme was about to question why Joshua was planning on putting the dog in something that looked like a fruity, alcoholic beverage, but when she saw how promptly the dog's wings spread out once it touched the water, she held her tongue. Handing him the other dog wordlessly, Rhyme watched in awe as the puppies of heaven began circling above her head, before disappearing in a portal Joshua had opened above her head.

Peeking around the corner in a sort of trance, Rhyme wondered if she looked in the swirling white vortex, if she would get a glimpse into heaven. Of course, that was assuming there weren't wards protecting such a thing.

Sighing, Rhyme deemed that such knowledge really wasn't for her, and so she just watched (with some amusement), as Joshua began rummaging through the cabinets, and seemed to down almost a whole bottle of allergy medicine. She wondered if being Composer, somehow, made things have less of an affect on him, but knowing he'd probably respond with a, "Are you asking how much it takes to get me drunk, Rhyme? I'm flattered," she thought better of it.

Slumping down on the bar stool across from where Rhyme was standing, Joshua buried his face in his arms for a moment before peering up to meet Rhyme with a purely exhausted expression. She also noted that his complexion was a bit red. So did that mean his medication _was _alcoholic based? "That is the last time I let Sanae exact revenge on me. Sure we've had our quarrels in the past. And there was the summer of eighty-nine-"

As the last of Joshua's words settled in Rhyme's mind, she could only look at him wordlessly, as she drank from the wine glass on the counter. It was filled with coca-cola, of course, but Rhyme didn't miss the strange look Joshua was giving her. And as much as she hated alcohol, since the incident... Well, she suddenly found herself wishing she'd allow herself to get a little tipsy. It wasn't because her boyfriend had just possibly admitted he'd been Composer during eighty-nine per se... Moreover, she was still shocked (in a good way), that she'd just come in contact with heaven's equivalent of hellhounds. And somehow, it was positively _hilarious_ that Joshua was allergic to them!

As Joshua glared at Rhyme for her snickering, she quickly tried to sober up in wondering if he was allergic to the said hellhounds, or even regular dogs, too.

"What happened in eighty-nine?" Rhyme questioned, as she hopped onto the counter so she could see Joshua better. However, as she could see herself in the mirror on the wall better this way, she suddenly wondered if sitting where she was was a good idea. Sure WildKat was a coffee shop, but what would happen if Beat got home from his trip early and saw her like this? Ironically, though she hadn't drunk anything at all, and had the most innocent intentions, Rhyme assumed she probably resembled someone who had had too much to drink.

Jumping behind the counter, but only to put the glass away, Rhyme found herself facing Joshua again. Fiddling with her bell pendant, she waited for an answer from him, but she got none. She was about to tell him that honesty was the first step in a successful relationship, but instead she noticed he'd begun to sweat a little. Holding his head as if he were in pain, Rhyme suddenly felt horrible for seeing his allergies as funny. Reaching her hand out to him—wanting to do anything she could to help—Rhyme touched Joshua's hand tentatively. For a moment, it looked as though he was preparing to turn to her to tell her she was fine, but then everything changed at once.

A surge of sugary, blue light falling over Joshua and her both, Rhyme found she was suddenly being hit with feelings, and knowledge about Joshua, that she'd never known before. She could only assume the feeling was mutual.

It only took a few seconds for it to be over, but a few seconds was more than enough. In other circumstances, Rhyme suspected she would have been happy for having just formed a Pact with Joshua. However, the moment she began sneezing, she wondered if he'd just gotten over his cold by engaging in the age-old ritual of "getting over a cold by giving it to someone else". Or in this case, allergies.

Crossing her arms over her chest much like Joshua would (maybe it had something to do with the Pact they'd just made), Rhyme glowered at her boyfriend. He'd been playing a mental poker game with her, hadn't he? And she'd lost badly. Suddenly, the way he'd been studying her made sense! He had been planning this all along.

"Yoshiya Kiryu!" Rhyme spat, as she found herself digging out her wine glass again, and filling it with some (ironically) pink and bubbly alcohol (she really _needed_ a drink now). "Did you just knowingly and willingly share your allergies of heaven's dogs with me to lessen the affect they have on yourself?"

And, of course, Joshua's trademark giggle and hair flip came about as soon as Rhyme had thought it would. The arms that snaked around her waist from behind, as he buried his face in her hair, that was decidedly new, though. As Rhyme took another tentative sip from the wine, she was loath to admit his arms felt nice and warm. It had to just be the alcohol talking! Who else would want to snuggle up to a guy who had somehow given them allergies?!

"Always so overdramatic aren't you, Raimu? Now, the valid Pact we just made must be proof enough to you that I would never willingly hurt you. However, the truth is, with beings somehow connected to the UG... Our allergies come from our Psychs. And since if you have enough Imagination, your Psychs can be anything… I did know that if I became your Partner, you'd take some of my allergies away. But don't look at me like that, Rhyme! Your love for the beasts, before I did this, ensured that all you'd have to suffer from my actions would just be one sneeze. One. Given how you always want to help people, I thought that would be a fair trade to you. Now I'm not so allergic that I want to cough up a lung, and now you get to have me as your Partner!"

As Joshua had spoken, Rhyme had imagined how he'd probably gone from holding his hand up with a fair expression on his face, to indignation, and to who knew what else all just during that one spiel. What she had not been expecting, though, had been him to use her eagerness to help people against her. More than that, she had definitely not expected him to whisper in her ear all seductively. The kiss he put on it was even worse! He was such a cheater!

As Rhyme swallowed her pride, and turned around in her boyfriend's arms, she decided that her New Year's resolution would be to not be such a pushover when it came to Joshua. Really. He could have just asked her! To tell the truth, if he would have told her all of this from the beginning, Rhyme knew she would have said "yes". But he loved being sneaky, her Joshua.

But more than that... Somehow, someway, Rhyme knew the Composer of Shibuya just wanted her to trust him. Perhaps it was their recent Pact giving her this information, or maybe it was just the knowledge that she'd always thought Joshua wanted to be loved, but with the newness of their Pact still zinging in her electrons, Rhyme knew without a doubt she did trust and forgive her Joshua.

However, she was starting to doubt whether or not she trusted Mr. H. This was all too perfect. Almost as though he'd wanted Joshua and Rhyme to be Partners! Lies about Joshua and Rhyme needing to pay for hanging out in (and sometimes even wrecking) WildKat aside, Rhyme suspected this had been his motive from the start. After all, Sanae was just as cunning as Joshua was. And as such, Rhyme was beginning to understand just what the summer of eighty-nine might have been about...

"So am I forgiven?" Coming out of her thoughts so suddenly, Rhyme had almost forgotten Joshua was behind her (still holding onto her waist, even), and at the shock of it all, she almost found herself smacking her head against his.

Which, of course, Joshua seemed to think was a riot. As he hugged his stomach and laughed more thoroughly than Rhyme had ever seen him do before, she was torn between hanging her head in shame or glaring at him.

She missed her beanie! Usually she could have hid her face with it (somewhat, anyway) in such circumstances, but Joshua had used telekinesis to steal it long before their New Year's "festivities" had begun. And now he had annoyingly dug it back out and was placing it on Rhyme's head so "it could block out some of the force if she bonked her head again. No one wanted her to get a concussion, after all."

As Joshua flipped a strand of hair out of his face, and regarded her with his usual snotty attitude, Rhyme was once again wondering just what she saw in him. If nothing else, at least she had her hat back! Pulling it more snugly over her head, Rhyme welcomed its warmth.

Warmth... Huh. As she looked at a snickering Joshua, she did have to admit it was nice seeing him so happy and full of warmth lately. If nothing else, she was glad she was able to bring that out in him. So perhaps her New Year's resolution should have been to always be there for him?

Still... As happy as Rhyme was that Joshua was lightening up more and more to her, the way he openly teased her was somewhat annoying and embarrassing. She idly wondered how their New Year's Eve celebration would have been like if Beat, Neku, Shiki, and Eri hadn't been away on their school trip... Though she would have been lying if she said, despite Joshua's annoying tendencies, that she wasn't having a fun time with her boyfriend.

Half out of embarrassment for that, Rhyme shoved Joshua in the shoulder with a slight smile, and related that, "This New Years' sucks." To tell the truth, she was half saying such a thing to see how Joshua would react. And he didn't disappoint.

"Why of course it does, Raimu. I haven't drunk a damn thing. And I've been told I can be very fun while drunk." Was he being serious or not? As Rhyme tried to get closer to Joshua's face to see if he was being truthful or not (it was hard to tell with him!), she had to wonder if maybe Joshua had nearly drowned the white golden retrievers in alcohol, after all. Maybe he was helping them celebrate New Year's in his own special way. Aww! Even when Joshua hated something, he cared.

And then at that thought, Rhyme had to laugh at how ridiculous she was being. And it _was_ ridiculous. Ridiculous, but not impossible. This _was_ the boy who'd bet all of Shibuya on a Game, after all.

And suddenly, just like that, Rhyme was a bit afraid to ever see Joshua drunk. He'd be even crazier, wouldn't he? Deciding that if Joshua was indeed going to drink, they should probably do it away from more of Mr. H's breakable things, Rhyme jumped over and away from the counter, and beckoned for Joshua to do the same. Thankfully, he listened and jumped lithely with her all right, but as he was looking at Rhyme with a raised eyebrow, she realized that he was still awaiting an answer…

"I can't imagine you, drunk," Rhyme finally said to him. It wasn't a _complete_ lie. Rather, Rhyme didn't _want_ to imagine Joshua drunk. At the thought of what terrible gambit he might be able to come up with during such a time, Rhyme decided to put a hand on her boyfriend's shoulder. If he was going to drink—and possibly come up with some computer game, or something, that could destroy Shibuya—Rhyme was going to be his anchor through it all. She'd make _sure_ to tell him he came up with the most terrible plans!

As Joshua smirked at Rhyme and put a hand on her own shoulder to mirror what she had done, Rhyme knew right then and there that her lie hadn't fooled him at all. In fact, as he was adopting his haughty look, she knew she was in for it now. But amazingly, it didn't intimidate her like it once had. Maybe because she knew she could match wits with hi-

"Do you want to see me get drunk now?" Joshua asked excitedly, as he got really close to Rhyme's face and looked at her all sparkly-eyed. As such, the girl was torn between demanding personal space, or looking into his lovely violet eyes. She'd never realized they were the color of amethyst before... "Alcohol has an affect on me, I assure you," Joshua said, almost seeming to know one of Rhyme's previous thoughts. Then, taking the level of being a complete asshole up a notch, Joshua winked at Rhyme and muttered, "You should drink some too, Rhyme. Maybe then you'd be open to playing strip poker."

Rhyme's punch to Joshua's arm came blindingly fast after that. And though she hadn't hit him too hard, Rhyme was thrilled that she'd finally had the courage to do something that she'd wanted to do for awhile: hit Joshua for one of his remarks. Clearly some of her time spent with Neku had paid off!

And at that, though Rhyme herself wanted to tell him it _so_ wasn't going to happen, she decided to be a little Neku like again, and just a bit mean. "Happy New Year, Boy of Death," Rhyme said to her boyfriend, as she decidedly pulled away from him. She was, of course, referring to his job. But even more than that, she was talking about how he'd been so very dramatic earlier, acting like he was going to die from his allergies.

As Joshua rubbed his nose against Rhyme's with a weird look of satisfaction on his face, his curt reply came just as quick as her had. "Happy New Year, Ringo."

And when their lips met, it was just as intense as their cruel nicknames for each other. Also, despite her best efforts, Rhyme wondered if she _was_ letting Joshua have a bit of alcohol. Her lips still had traces of strawberry wine on them, after all. Why did he always win?! Perhaps it was just what life in Joshua's Shibuya was…

And despite everything, Rhyme found she was more than happy to begin another year in Joshua's city. She was happy to have another year with Joshua at all. And she knew, without a doubt, that it was going to be a great one!

**Author's Note: Okay. I am in no way condoning underage drinking with this. I imagine Rhyme to be around seventeen here (and who knows how old Joshua is?), but I really only did that, because this was the only place it could fit into my imagined timeline. Plus, I wrote this for New Year's, so… (And, yes, I realize that New Year's is probably a lot different in Japan, but I chose to write it like this, anyway.)**

**Anyway, if you're underage, don't drink recklessly (Joshua and Rhyme didn't drink recklessly here, and actually… Joshua didn't really drink anything save for allergy medicine and the wine on Rhyme's lips). And honestly, just don't drink at all if you're underage! It's illegal, and a lot of bad things happen when teens do, so yeah.**

**And I feel so shameful for having written this. Basically? I've been rewatching too much Tenchi, and Ryoko ALWAYS drinks in that! Since Ryoko reminds me a bit of Josh, you can probably guess where my inspiration came from. But funnily, somehow I didn't even have Joshua get drunk in this. Huh. Rhyme did all the drinking here, and I don't think she even got tipsy. Oh, my muse! Why are you so weird?**

**Umm… This prompt is sort of weird. I'm not gonna lie. It's probably because I wrote it really late when I should have been sleeping, but I oddly like this. It's a cute, light moment with them. And since I sometimes have a hard time with that… Well, enjoy this cute Joshyme moment!**

**Also, sorry if this was a bit unclear. Basically? Sanae was having Joshua and Rhyme groom the dogs to get back at them for hogging, and sometimes wrecking things in, WildKat. Or that's what he told them, anyway. And since these beings are from heaven and not Earth, if you're allergic to them… It has to do with your Psychs. And that IS how Joshua's allergic, by the way. Also, he made that pink shampoo stuff with one of his Psychs to get the job done faster, but since it was made from his powers—which is where the allergies reside—it made it all even worse for him. Anyway, Joshua realizes that if he makes a Pact with Rhyme, he can take some of his torment away, and so he does. However, he doesn't just make a Pact with her for that reason. And, yes. Mr. H did plan this all because he can also be devious, and he wants them to be Parnters. LOL.**

**So, I actually have a lot I wanted to talk about this chapter, but I probably shouldn't. I'll just say one more thing (as I'm sort of on a tight schedule): the line about a computer game destroying all of Shibuya? That's a jibe at Kingdom Hearts Re:Coded, because it takes place in a computer, and is wrecking things in the computer world and real world. I put that line in there because… Nomura apparently came up with that game idea while drunk (which explains a lot, actually). And seeing what this chapter is about… I decided to somewhat break the fourth wall and have that.**

**And don't take a lot of Rhyme's thoughts (especially some about Joshua) to seriously in this. She's just being silly/funny.**

**Aaaand why Rhyme doesn't really like to drink might come up again eventually. It was supposed to be in this chappie, but it didn't make the cut. It's really not important at all, but we'll see if I ever reveal the reason to you.**

**By the way, does anyone remember who requested this prompt? I'm so full of failure! I can't find it in the old comments, and I don't remember at all. Gah! If you requested this, please tell me. And I hope you enjoyed it (even though it really isn't about Poker, because I fail and have never played Poker before). –hangs head in shame-**

**Shutting up now.**

**Happy New Year's, guys! I hope you have an amazing 2013. Love you all!**

**-Shanna**


	14. Come Josephine in My Flying Machine

**Come Josephine in My Flying Machine**

"_Where_ is her brother? I'm going to fucking kill him!" Though Joshua thought he'd never wanted to shout anything so loud in his life, he was surprised when the words came out barely a whisper. Though the pure, unadulterated anger was still evident in his tone, it somehow came out sounding like music. Perhaps that's what it was to be in his Composer form, but oddly enough, despite the Game he'd set up with Neku to eliminate Shibuya's noisy Music...

At the moment, Joshua wanted nothing more to make Noise himself. For people to fear his anger. Feel his wrath! In his agitation, as he dug his fingernails into his arms so that they bled (and this was _in_ his Composer form!), Joshua realized what he really wanted people to experience was his pain. Or maybe more accurately, he wanted his pain to go away. Or even better yet…Rhyme's. For the first time since Joshua had begun "dating" Rhyme, he found he wasn't questioning his attachment to her at all. Right now, he was too pissed off to even wonder _why_ he was pissed off.

He was also too hell bent on getting back at the person who'd help put Rhyme in such a state. And that was the person who was supposed to protect her more than anyone else: Beat!

"Joshua, will you get hold of your emotions and think for just a moment?! Yeah, the idiot probably didn't help the situation with what he did, but how do you think she got frozen in the first place? It wasn't through getting locked in the meat freezer, I'll tell you that." For one instance—as Joshua paused after taking his and Rhyme's shirts off (he needed to get her warm via his body heat, fast!)—the Composer thought about blasting Sanae with one of his Jesus Beams. Though Joshua could see where his Producer was coming from (and was even loath to admit he was probably right), that didn't sway his desire to pummel Beat any less.

Declarations of war on him—and the Reapers that had done this to Rhyme—were going to have to wait, though. Joshua didn't at all like the shade of blue Rhyme's lips was once again turning. How was it possible his Composer form wasn't doing anything to stop her from dying?! As he looked at his girlfriend (how easily the thought came to his mind now!), who seemed to be getting more and more icicles stuck in her hair somehow, Joshua couldn't believe... Couldn't believe the last time that he'd been with her, he'd sung "Come Josephine in My Flying Machine". It was almost as though he'd asked fate to give him a Titanic ending. What had he been thinking?!

"J, what are you-"

Rolling his eyes at his Producer as he slipped himself, and Rhyme, out of their clothes, Joshua couldn't believe that now of all times Sanae was worrying about what he'd do. As if he would ever entertain the idea of raping Rhyme, and especially not when she was about to go into hypothermia! Barking an order at Mr. H, while trying to get Rhyme's shivering under control, Joshua told him to get him some scissors and fast!

As Joshua held Rhyme's naked form against his in a desperate attempt to warm her up, he was surprised to note he didn't feel the chill of her at all. Rather, the only ice he felt was in his heart. If _they_ cost him Rhyme through this-

Deciding to stop that thought then and there, Joshua rocked Rhyme in his arms gently. He imagined the movement, and his warmth was probably hurting her (something he didn't even want to think about), but as there was no other choice at the moment, Joshua kissed the top of Rhyme's head and prayed (to who, he didn't know) that she would just be all right.

He noted, idly, that Rhyme was asking him if he was hemophobic, for when they'd watched Titanic together... He'd looked away at the part where the man fell on the propeller. Screwing his eyes shut, Joshua was hit with a bizarre bout of despair and happiness with the thought that... That Rhyme's very last words might be about the last time they'd been together. And as that thought entered his mind, Joshua immediately wanted to puke, but he held it in for Rhyme. Fortunately, Sanae appeared with the scissors just in time, and Joshua was able to keep Rhyme talking so she didn't note he was cutting her hair. Then again, she might not have noted, either way.

"Joshua, how do you think cutting her hair is going to help?" Sanae asked dead seriously, as he took Joshua's lead, and began putting his own shirt and tie on the floor, so he could try to Rhyme up with his body heat, too. It was almost comedic that Joshua had once thought of bringing Rhyme to the Room of Reckoning, so her light would brighten it up, and now that she was here... The room was becoming more and more evil.

As Joshua rubbed his hand against Rhyme's face in a swift motion to create friction and heat, he wondered just what he'd been thinking in bringing her here. Maybe it was cursed after all he'd put Neku through in it, and whatnot.

Worse, though, through that Game with Neku... Rhyme's blood had also been on Joshua's hands. She'd been Erased because of him, and now would he lose her once again?

"Because it was too soaked and frozen, Sanae. It wasn't offering her any sort of heat, and probably hurting her worse. Rhyme might bite my head off for this when we're done," and how Joshua very much hoped she would, because that would mean she was alive and with him, "But at least the loss of her frozen locks might serve to keep her alive. Unlike _my_ useless powers."

It was positively infuriating that Joshua couldn't just use his powers to warm Rhyme up, but he knew full well that if he tried to get her warm too fast—or with too much heat—it could have disastrous consequences. Really, the best thing he could have done was take Rhyme to the hospital, and give her some of the shots she needed, but that was even a worse plan, because he knew full well how his _old friends_ would be waiting for him to go and do so. Whatever way he sliced it, either Rhyme would get hurt in the process, he'd become too injured and unable to return home to Rhyme, or Sanae would accidentally lead them to exactly where Rhyme was if he went.

_Joshua, I'm sorry. I made you uncomfortable with the Titanic talk before, didn't I? I know better than to compare our love to Jack and Rose's._ In his frazzled state, it took Joshua a moment to realize that Rhyme's words had been far too coherent and streamlined for the state she was in. Just a moment later, he realized that he was reading Rhyme's mind, and just what that meant. New fury rising in him, in learning that Sakuya's men had taken Rhyme's Player Pin, Joshua thought that if he weren't so aware of Rhyme in his arms, he very well might have blown up the entire Shibuya River in his anger.

And somehow, what was even worse than that, was that a dying Rhyme had picked up on just how Joshua really felt about her. Though Joshua was realizing more and more that he couldn't lie to _himself_ that he loved Rhyme, letting Rhyme know he felt that way was another thing entirely. Joshua had proven time and time again how he loved to destroy his own happiness, and a dying Rhyme was realizing—and comforting him about this!—when it was most likely too lat-

"I'm not going to let you go thinking you mean nothing to me, Rhyme. So don't even think that! I'm not going to let you go at all!" Completely ignoring Sanae's raised eyebrow in his direction (because he most likely hadn't heard Rhyme's silent thought), Joshua suddenly found he was sobbing uncontrollably, as he pulled Rhyme to him as close as he could, and kissed her anywhere he could. If only... If only it could be like a fairytale, and his kiss could heal her. Because despite his promises, Joshua wasn't even sure that if Rhyme was lost... Just where she'd go.

Joshua had heard storied about beings that had been frozen in ice and preserved through time. If they'd ever thaw, and live in a new time again, he did not know. But according to the Angels... Those who had been like that were neither alive nor dead. They were just gone, for whatever reason, unless life was somehow sparked in their bodies once again. And Joshua knew that his enemies had put Rhyme in an ice cube _exactly_ for that reason.

Though it had only been meant to be a threat (because as soon as Beat had unlocked the meat freezer, Rhyme had been freed from her icy prison, but not better for it. Though Joshua hated to admit it, if Beat _hadn't_sprayed Rhyme with a garden hose, in thinking she was just dirty… if Rhyme _hadn't_reacted so violently to the icy water, so Beat realized... Well, Joshua didn't want to think what had happened), Joshua knew they'd meant to show him there was a place where even he couldn't reach Rhyme. And though Joshua wanted to believe such a thing wouldn't happen...

The truth was, though Rhyme had been freed from the cube of ice, Joshua wondered if her mind had been. Pretty soon, would she be lost to the hypothermia, and him completely? It'd be even worse than a coma, it would be-

"There is one thing I can do to fix this," Joshua ended up saying to himself so stoically and emotionless, he wondered if even Sanae—who knew him better than anyone—would even pick up on it. But of course he did. At once, Joshua saw Sanae's face contort into one of utmost concern, as his wings extended.

Closing his eyes in a vain attempt to not think about what fate had in store for him, Joshua prepared to do exactly what he had to before Sanae could stop him.

"Don't be stupid, Joshua. If you rewind time to before they got to Rhyme, there will be grave consequences. The Angels will-"

"The Angels are slow to getting around to anything, Sanae! And if I do this, at least I'll have Rhyme as my Partner, and we can combat them. And maybe she'll even go against her goody-goody nature to help me hunt down and kill all of those who did this to her!"

If Joshua hadn't been so wrapped up in the fact that Rhyme was no longer talking, or thinking to him—that her hand had gone slack against his, and he couldn't feel her at all—he probably would have noted he'd exerted more emotion than he had for as long as he could remember. No longer numb about what had happened in his past, and to his parents, _through_ Wysu... Joshua spoke without a facade, perhaps, for the first time in his life.

If he'd been able to focus on anything other than the Pretty-Much-Dead-Rhyme in his arms, Joshua might have told Sanae he'd once turned against the Angels and his job (against Joshua even!) to do what was right, and that he should understand better than anyone why Joshua had to do this now. Instead, all Joshua was able to do was imagine Rhyme's face full of life—her real face—smiling at him. He _had_ to get that girl back.

As memories flashed through Joshua's mind, he imagined how Rhyme and Neku had stopped by to spray paint snowflakes on his window for Christmas, he remembered how Rhyme had convinced him to buy her a fog machine for a Christmas play she was doing, he remembered how Rhyme had finally given him something to believe in during Christmas...

Rhyme, she really was everything to him, and though a lot of his memories of her were of winter... They truly spoke of summer and sunshine. That was what Rhyme had brought to Joshua, and without her, life would always be winter for him. She'd done so, so much to free him from himself, and after everything... He wasn't going to let her die in the element he'd been lost in before her.

Though Sanae was suddenly silent and still beside him, and might have decided to allow Joshua to have his way, the Composer knew he couldn't risk making sure. Extending his own wings as fast as he was able, Joshua used all of his power—and even stole some of Sanae's—to begin rewinding time. As his wings began to blacken with his actions, Joshua knew full well he was succeeding.

Kissing Rhyme's lips for hopefully the last time in such a scenario, Joshua stroked Rhyme's face, and said something to her he never thought he would. Something... Something he was beginning to sense that, despite what he did here, he might never say again. "I love you, Raimu. If I never say this to you again, let me do so now. Let me love you and punish those who did this to you."

And though she smiled at him the slightest bit—signaling his plan was working!—Joshua couldn't help but feel she soon wouldn't let him love her at all. And somehow... Somehow Wysu had arranged it so Joshua would lose Rhyme through his own actions.

Unconsciously, Joshua began humming "Come Josephine" to himself, as he worked. And like the end of the movie Titanic, he felt very cold and like he was dying inside. And even when time did go backwards, and he found himself in Rhyme's arms singing the same song to her... He noted that Rhyme felt warm, and he still cold. For once, her sunlight was not warming him. They were going to end up like Jack and Rose yet, weren't they?

**Author's Note: I don't even know where this came from. Blame me watching an episode of Castle last night, where he and Beckett almost did die from being locked in a freezer. And honestly, it is an interesting (though weird) thought to realize someone frozen in an ice burg or something (like Aang in Avatar) would probably be out of Joshua's reach. And as he's used to having so much power—power over death even!—I think this would really freak him out, especially when it's Rhyme!**

**Also, reading too much Game of Thrones also might have had to do with me writing this...**

**Anyway, I hope this wasn't disconcerting for a lot of you, but I warned you it wasn't going to be all rainbows and sunshine for Joshua and Rhyme. And isn't it sweet Joshua's so upfront about his feelings for Rhyme here? Enjoy it while you can, folks. It probably won't happen a lot after this, since this fic isn't written in chronological order, and Joshua is Joshua.**

**So, this is actually VERY late in my imagined Joshyme timeline. Probably one of the last chapters, actually. Though it takes place before Rhyme gives up on Joshua, and actually is part of the reason she does. So, so sad. But you know, it doesn't help that only Joshua will remember all of this, and he's going to go a bit revenge crazy (for good reason!), but I'm going to stop spoiling stuff.**

**Oh. And you know how I said something terrible was going to happen to Rhyme? This wasn't even what I was referencing! Something even worse is coming, so have fun with that. LOL. I'm so evil…**

**And yay! More references to Joshua's past. Which will be explained soon, I swear.**

…**Yeah, I said this chapter would be about Neku confronting Joshua, and I'm sorry it isn't. Long story short, I couldn't access that file, so I wrote this for the time being instead. But I will get to that chappie soon. Promise.**

**Well, hope you enjoyed this (yeah right!). And please review! ...Sorry if this whole chapter is a bit sadistic, but... hopefully it's at least interesting? Or not.**

**-goes and hides from the people who probably want to murder her for this terrible chapter-**

**-Shanna**


	15. Smell of Grass Stains and Taste of Punch

**The Smell of Grass Stains and the Taste of Fruit Punch**

_Rhyme remembered the first time Joshua had kissed her, and truly meant it. Though the memory did end in a rather melancholy light... Years down the road, Rhyme was able to look on the memory of her true first kiss, and smile._

...

Rhyme frowned a bit, as she stood outside the school building collecting her things. It had surprised her when her sensei had opted they review for their science quiz outside in the beautiful weather; what shocked her even more, though, was that he'd insisted they bring their school supplies out with them, too. Though Rhyme had very much looked forward to "playing catch" to study for finals (she wouldn't have even been upset if she was landed with the ball and questions many a time, as she knew the material well), the prospect of bringing her school supplies out with her had been rather disconcerting (and in the end, did prove to be troublesome).

Though Rhyme could understand how most students would value not having to go back into the school for their thing, when they were already outside to leave... Something Rhyme had ended up doing made things a tad bit more complicated for her, and though she knew it was her own fault, she couldn't help the embarrassment that blossomed within her when she was reduced to chasing her papers all around the courtyard. Perhaps the only saving grace about the whole thing was that she was able to save most of what she needed, and as for the other things... Well, it was almost the end of the school year, anyway. Maybe the wind was just trying to help her throw unneeded things out sooner?

At least, that was what Rhyme would have thought if her brother, Beat, wouldn't have caught more air than she knew he was capable of on his skateboard, and handed her the forms she hadn't been able to get.

"Yo, sis," Beat had said as he smiled at Rhyme affectionately, and pulled her beanie off to ruffle her hair. "I neva would'a thought you were a litterbug, yo. You gots to be careful; you don'ts want the teachs ta think you're playin' a senior prank early. They mights expel ya!"

Touched thoroughly by Beat's concern—and the help he'd given her—Rhyme momentarily forgot how it made_ no_ sense how he'd flown ten feet in the air to get her papers, and instead kissed him on the cheek merrily before saying, "But you retrieved the last of the papers for me, Beat, so you don't have to worry about that now. And losing the papers was an accident; really, I've stuffed way too much into my student handbook, so it makes sense that the cover won't stay down anymore, and allowed my loose papers to fly away so easily. I suppose I should have found a better way to carry my mandatory supplies around, but what are you gonna do?"

"What indeed, Raimu?"

"Joshua!" Turning away from Beat to regard the prissy looking boy in front of her, Rhyme tried her best to smile at Josh, but found it came out rather forced. She had to admit that she was a little cross with him. On one hand, it was somewhat irritating (and worrying!) how Joshua would sometimes go to Rhyme's school at random intervals with no explanation whatsoever (though Rhyme did have some ideas), but more than that... She found she was sick of being around him because, in reality... He was leading her on; as Rhyme liked Joshua a little too much to be healthy (or so she thought), she knew nothing good could come out of their interactions, so...

"Bwah! Prissy, whachu doin' here, yo? I know you come her' sometimes, but shouln't yu be leavin'?"

As Joshua turned his stare away from Rhyme, the youngest Bito suddenly found she was glad her brother was there; he'd stop things from becoming too intense between her and Joshua; even if... Even if his loudness did lead to their arrest. As his loud, boisterous voice had just caused quite a few robins to fly out of their nests—their wings spreading just when they reached the sun, so they almost shimmered—Rhyme sniggered to herself knowing just how likely such a thing would be.

And then she had to smile the slightest bit in realizing Beat was already erasing the odd feeling between her and Joshua. Perhaps... Perhaps the best thing for her to do was face Joshua with Beat around. After all, if this ended up like the time they'd all watched Harry Potter, at least she and Joshua would end up on good terms with each othe-

"Hehehe, I see perceptiveness runs in the Bito family. I _am_ here later than one usually is, but what can I say? I'm so great at giving long-winded and emotional speeches, that Miku-Sensei wanted me to stay after class, and recite my poem again. She thinks it's good enough to be entered into a contest, you see?"

As Joshua walked over to Beat and her, Rhyme could easily make out the amused look adorning his face, even with it beginning to get dark. As he strode across the football field (and it was odd and funny all at the same time that lazy Josh would be on a football field), despite the out of place jealousy Rhyme was feeling towards Joshua's teacher of all people, Rhyme thought everything might just end up being okay.

That was until everything hit her like a ton of bricks. It had been no accident that Beat had been able to jump in the air and get Rhyme's papers right before Joshua had appeared. Nor was it an accident that her things had been missing _right_ before Joshua showed up.

As Rhyme gauged the calculating look on Joshua's face, she almost thought he was trying to get her to make the jump. Closing her eyes, and trying to think, Rhyme began reciting what she knew to be true." But that- No. It wasn't a speech, was it? You were making up that student guidelines quiz you missed, and you used my papers just now to do it... You stole them away from me so you could use them."

It almost shocked Rhyme that Beat really wasn't reacting to her words at all. Rather, he just seemed to be looking between Joshua and Rhyme confusedly. In the end, Rhyme thought it was probably a good thing. It was only in realizing Beat _wasn't_ going ballistic, that Rhyme realized that her accusation really wasn't bad in the slightest. Weird, but not bad. She _did_ like to play catch (even if chasing her things had been a little embarrassing).

As weird as it was to think, maybe Joshua was just abandoning his duties, and messing with her to have fun? As Rhyme heard the birds from earlier relax, and return to their nests, she supposed that was probably a good enough answer_. There's no use closing the barn door after the horse has already run out of the stable._

Turning to Joshua much more calmer than she'd been before, Rhyme smiled at the older boy, and was about to ask him just what he'd been doing, but before she could, Joshua was already hopping up onto one of the bleachers, and wiping the mud off his shoes. And it didn't surprise her in the least when Joshua started babbling to all who would listen; he _was_ quite the talker. "You shouldn't take Journalism in summer school like you're planning, Rhyme. It's a nightmare. Also, I wouldn't have messed with your papers if you weren't silly enough to lose them in the first place, but they did serve to help me, so I suppose I owe you my thanks, Skulls Jr."

Distracted, whilst her cheeks flamed, Rhyme found her disorganization was even more humiliating when _Joshua_ pointed out. Well, she really wasn't messy per se. More so, she didn't have many places to carry all her things in, and now that her student handbook was falling apart- Yeah... Perhaps Joshua was right to say she shouldn't take Journalism. Rhyme had heard horror stories about its difficulty in the past, and since the second day every student was given a test about stuff found in the guidebook, and Rhyme's was breaking into smithereens-

"Yo, Prissy, I ain't got nuthin against a game of ball, or skateboarding' like crazy, but jus' what were you tryin' to gain by this, yo?" Pausing in her attempt to jump up on the bleachers and sit beside Joshua, Rhyme found she had to give her brother a warm smile for getting her back to the question she'd wanted to ask to begin with (not that Joshua would necessarily give her a straight answer) Also, she found she was proud at him for ferreting out, too, that Joshua had another reason for what he'd done. After all, what sort of demi-god would care about a test from a school they didn't even really go to?

In the end, Rhyme's answer came in a way she hadn't been expecting at all. As the feeling of something thick and wet made itself known on her cheeks, Rhyme's first bizarre thought when Joshua smeared something on her face, was that she'd had food on it all day without realizing it. However, when she touched the smudge herself, and saw that her fingers came back black, Rhyme suddenly knew too well what Joshua had been doing. Sports' face paint could only mean one thing in his twisted mind.

"I confess!" Joshua said in response to Beat's question (though he wasn't paying attention to Beat at all, and was instead smearing more paint on Rhyme's face; Rhyme was beginning to wonder if he was painting a heart on her face…). "I wanted to see just how sporty dear Raimu here is. She always has been the little tomboy, so if we were in a relationship togethe-."

"Bwah! Whachu say?!" Scrambling up the bleachers in a way a rhino might, Rhyme found she was more than glad that Beat's movement had distracted Joshua from what he wanted to say. Burying her face in her hands, humiliated, Rhyme couldn't believe what Joshua had been about to mutter in front of Beat! She and Joshua weren't even _in_ a relationship, and she would not be the guy in i-

"Oh, fine. That's a lie, too," Joshua said, undoubtedly after looking at Beat and Rhyme's shocked faces. "Here, let me get this black gunk off your skin, Rhyme. As appealing as facemasks are said to be, this isn't at all your color. Anyway, what I'm really curious about is this. Rhyme, won't you do the honors?"

And before Rhyme could even ask just what Joshua was on about, she found the bleacher she and Beat had been on was suddenly turning into a slide, and throwing her and Beat to the ground. Landing roughly on a dirt splotch, Rhyme thought that even though Joshua had taken the paint off her face, she might very well have blood dirtying it up now.

"Joshua, what are you-"

"You'd better hurry and collect those papers, Raimu." And just as he spoke, Rhyme found she was suddenly surrounded by a ton of her school supplies twirling, and dancing in the air. She supposed it might have looked beautiful (Joshua being Joshua had chosen only to use supplies that had colors that looked good together), if she wasn't trying desperately to grab hold of some of her things, before they wriggled free from her.

At the time she jumped on her pencil case, but was only lifted up into the air with it, Rhyme thought Beat might have become more inclined to smack Joshua with his skateboard, instead of catch Rhyme on it. But as she landed back on her feet safely beside her brother, he gallantly started to try and help her retrieve her things. For a moment, Rhyme was hit with a strong bout of déjà vu (she remembered a time before her family had become silly, and they'd had Annual-Bito-Thanksgiving-Football-Matches), and she almost wondered if Joshua was trying to recreate some of her greatest memories, but as Beat was now challenging Joshua, she thought it probably best to think on it some other time.

"Yo, Joshua. I gots nuthin' against this, but whats if Rhyme needs some of this stuff later on. Or whats if someone finds some a'this trash, an- Rhyme gets in trouble for it?"

"Just think of this as a test I'm giving you to see if you're worthy of your skateboard scholarship, Beat." And as some unspoken knowledge seemed to pass between Beat and Joshua, Rhyme found her older brother was suddenly doing crazy stunts to retrieve her stuff. Ducking a packet here, jumping there, trying to catch something that way, Rhyme had never seen Joshua and Beat get along so well.

And surprisingly enough, Rhyme found that "lazy Joshua" wasn't being completely immobile during it all. Sure he was using his telekinesis for the most part, but he was actually seeming to mime somewhat, to throw them off course. With Rhyme especially, Joshua seemed to pretend that he would go one way only to go another. Though Rhyme was having fun (it was nice to not have to worry about her studies some, and just play), she did consider tackling Joshua a couple of times to end it all early, but at the thought of what he might say in front of Beat in such a situation, Rhyme thought better of it.

Still, as the stitches in her side were beginning to hurt more and more, Rhyme found herself looking at Joshua tiredly before admitting, "Josh, this is silly. I can't chase these all night; I have projects to do. I don't even need these papers anyway, so-"

"What if I told you that some of these things belonged to Shaylee?" Long past her happiness at Joshua providing Beat some confidence and entertainment (he now seemed to be trying to recuperate, as he napped on the ground), Rhyme was suddenly very, very angry to realize Joshua was either teasing her, or had actually taken her friend's things. Knowing Joshua usually wasn't the kind to half-bake a scheme, Rhyme thought he was probably telling the truth.

Breathing in deeply (she was beginning to have a heat stroke, she swore!), Rhyme suddenly felt like she was possessed by some new power, as she picked some of Shaylee's stuff off the ground, some out of the air, and some off Joshua's person before he could even manipulate them. Having collected a good portion of the stuff, Rhyme was just about to try and figure out how to get papers off the smallest school roof, when the leftover supplies were suddenly dropped onto her head.

As Joshua moved the papers off the top of her head (that felt very much like he was removing a wedding veil), and helped her up, Rhyme saw that Joshua was smiling, and somehow... It was the most hopeful expression she'd ever seen him wear. So, then- Had she helped him somehow? All her earlier irritation (and even some of her tiredness) pushed aside, Rhyme found she was utterly curious. "Joshua, you were testing me about something. Wha-"

"'Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.'" As Rhyme cocked her head to the side and looked at Joshua curiously, it took her a minute to realize he was quoting something from the King James Version of the Bible. As the gears started turning in her head, she thought she knew what he was getting at, but as she was very tired and delirious at this point, she couldn't say for sure. Her mind kept drifting to the smell of grass stains on her pants...

"Joshua, I'm not-" Rhyme began modestly, as she tried to stop whatever possible self-deprecating thought Joshua was having. After all, working hard to get your friends' school supplies back was nothing compared to-

"You are funny, Rhyme," Joshua chastised the youngest Bito, as he ruffled her hair the slightest bit before putting a hand on her shoulder. Rhyme was about to open her mouth and rebuke his statement, only to realize he hadn't meant it in a mean way. Instead, he was smoothing out Rhyme's hair, and seeming as nice as she'd ever seen him. "While it is nice that you put so much effort into finding your friend's stuff more than you did your own, that is just the icing on the cake that shows who you really are. You _did_ sacrifice for your brother, Rhyme. And knowing now that such a thing wasn't a fluke... Well, I suppose I could see the benefits of having someone like that in my life."

And before Rhyme could ask Joshua just what had brought about this change, she suddenly felt her lips completely occupied. For the first time that Rhyme could remember in kissing Joshua, she felt as though fireworks were going off around them. Before, they'd had a great chemistry and banter to be sure, but suddenly—as Rhyme found her hands smoothing Joshua's hair the way he had hers—she felt as though they might have found love together, too. And no matter what she'd been feeling before, nothing would have been worth missing out on this. Until...

Until lightning seemed to flash in the place of fireworks, and Joshua went slack against her. Pulling away from Rhyme abruptly, Joshua's face seemed to be that of someone who had seen a ghost. As Joshua stammered away from her, Rhyme tried not to let the pain of his departure show on her face when he said, "Rhyme, I'm sorry. I don't- I don't know what that was. And I didn't mean to lead you on."

And though Joshua was in the UG by the time Rhyme said it, she chose to believe he still heard her. Tracing her fingers over her lips—remembering what she'd always consider her true first kiss—Rhyme swallowed her pain, and smiled while muttering, "You didn't." Because the fact that he cared about her feelings this time, and hadn't just kissed her and pretended it had never happened... Showed just how much Joshua _did_ care about her. Joshua... He was growing by leaps and bounds, wasn't he?

And so it was, Rhyme wasn't surprised the next day when Beat was recommended to a good school from an anonymous tipster.

Thinking of a kiss the taste of fruit punch on Joshua's lips when she'd kissed him, Rhyme knew exactly whom the recommendation had come from. And more than that, she knew exactly who she was in love with. For better or for worse.

**Author's Note: Takes place after the "Harry Potter" chapter, and before the one where they become an official couple (quite a bit before that one, actually). **

**Anyway, I posted this before the Neku chapter to make up for the horrible last chapter. I'm still sorry about that one, guys:(**

**Also, this unintentionally is very similar to the awesome Joshyme fanfic Nix wrote me. But it's somewhat intentionally inspired by an episode of Roswell I watched recently. Yeah...**


	16. Safe and Sound

**Safe and Sound**

Joshua sighed, as he turned from his Composer form to his RG one. Walking around a neighborhood that had recently had a flash fire, Joshua did have to admit that he felt bad for all of the people who's lives had surely been upturned, but he wasn't entirely sure he believed Mr. H's theory, either. Apparently, the Angels had reason to believe that it hadn't been an accident that had set the block ablaze, but rather an arsonist (to that end, they were disappointed in Joshua for missing such a thing in his domain), but as Josh hadn't experienced any evidence to that fact…

Well, he was more than a little upset that _now_, of all times, the Angels would decide to act like other than observers. Joshua was almost one-hundred percent sure there was something he wasn't being told, and thus that was the real reason he was investigating, and not leaving it as a Mission for the Players or something.

Walking around panicked individuals that were looking for loved ones, or trying to get away from the areas that were still smoldering a bit, Joshua spared a sympathetic look here and there; he also tried to act as though the smoke was bothering him (when really it wasn't at all), and that he was looking for a loved one himself.

What he really was looking for, though, was one of the less affected houses so he could begin his investigation there. As it was, he would have to wait until night to do a search of the more damaged homes. It was so very annoying that he couldn't just be in the UG, and investigate there, but since people were more prone to sense things when they were running on adrenaline… Joshua thought it was best that he do things the old-fashioned way, and not have some "psychic" reveal him and the UG on the six o'clock news.

Getting towards the end of the street now, Joshua was relieved to realize that the fire hadn't reached as far as he'd feared (though it had certainly reached quite a bit of houses). Glad that that meant there wouldn't be a surplus of Players in his Game, with a bit more pep in his step, Joshua reached a house that seemed to have only had the grass burnt in front of it (and seemed vacant), and quickly marched his way into it.

Joshua wasn't entirely sure what he could find in a place that seemed out of the carnage, but hey: he wasn't going to give the Angels any more reason to be on his back. So with that mindset, the Composer began searching the home for any evidence of foul play, but the only suspicious place seemed to be the entrance (in which Joshua believed the fireman had probably kicked the door down to make sure there wasn't a fire, and that no one was trapped inside).

Yes, all seemed well for this place, indeed. With a smile on his face for things not being as bad as they could have been, Joshua was about to leave with that analysis, but then he saw her.

Cowering in the living room, in such a tight ball that Joshua hadn't even seen her, was a sobbing Rhyme Bito. At once—as he took in the form of the crying little girl in front of him—Joshua immediately felt angry at the thought of the girl, he'd just brought back to life, nearly being killed again!

Though Joshua felt that way about most ex-Players who died after their Game, or got close to dying again (since they were meant to live and better the world, not die just so Joshua could bring them back again), Joshua thought what he was experiencing with Rhyme was actually a bit different. Rather, he was furious that something could have killed the best person in Shibuya. Or _someone_ could have. And with the way Rhyme looked so devastated now, Joshua knew there was no denying there was more to the turn of events than just an accident.

"Rhyme!" Joshua exclaimed, as he came upon the girl and instantly began pulling her up. "What are you doing here? Is this your new house or something?" Blinking wildly as the sound of his own questions hit him, Joshua had to wonder just what the hell he was asking. Sure he hadn't been entirely sure where Rhyme had moved to after he'd seen her last (since he'd been busy with his duties, and had had to be away from the Hachiko group for awhile), but now was certainly not the time to be asking her about her new address! He should have been asking her if she was hurt, if she-

"Joshua!" And before Joshua could even make sense of what was happening, as he continued to belittle himself, he suddenly saw Rhyme pulling out of her trance, but more than that, he soon found his arms full with the weight of Rhyme in them. As she cried into his shirt, Joshua found all he could do was stand there like an idiot; he couldn't even comfort her or push her away. He was just too shocked to do anything. "Josh, inn-innoce-nt ki-ids were kille-d. Tha-tha transform-er shouldn' hav' exploded. Oh, Josh! I-I'm all al-one."

Under the guise of petting Rhyme's hair to calm her (and he supposed he actually was), Joshua slipped his hands under the traumatized girl's beanie, and took hold of her Player Pin.

As suspected, Rhyme didn't even notice, but rather held onto him even tighter. Ignoring the corporal Rhyme for a moment, Joshua instead focused on her Music that he hadn't had access to in too long now. And the moment Rhyme's thoughts entered his head, Joshua couldn't help but smile. He still missed the sound of her Music, but he wouldn't steal her Player Pin from her if it gave her comfort. Still, it was nice to bask in the sweetness that was in Rhyme's mind, even if her heart was crying out.

However, as Rhyme suddenly slid to the floor against him—her legs no longer being able to hold her up—Joshua thought it was probably a good time to stop eaves dropping on her memories, and begin comforting her again. Sitting down alongside her now, Joshua put her Player Pin back in her hand (the way she couldn't even fold her fingers to hold it, hurting him more than he'd ever let on), and ruffled her free locks some. "Don't worry, Rhyme. Some of those young children won't even have to play the Game. I'll grant them their life back immediately, instead. And we'll find out who blew up the transformer your dad just put in, but right now? You need to call your family, and let them know what's happened."

Truth be told, as Joshua had never had much experience in calming anyone, he had to admit he thought he was doing a pretty good job. After all, Rhyme's eyes looked less glassy now, and her breathing had calmed down a bit, but as for him…

Well, to tell the truth, Joshua's mind was still reeling. Rhyme_ really _seemed to have bad luck. And what were the chances that Rhyme's audition at school would end up being the same day as a concert her family had booked in advance (thus the reason they weren't there with her at the moment, and were actually out of town). For that matter, Joshua wasn't entirely sure he liked the location of her new house if an arsonist was drawn to it so easily, but what could he do about tha-

As a sudden realization dawned on him, Joshua thought he probably went as still as Rhyme did in that instant (before she scampered away from him, of course). Of course! It wasn't an accident that this had happened with Rhyme! And _that _was why the Angels had known about it all, and had sent him to investigate.

Looking at Rhyme in a new way, and with wide-eyes, Joshua remembered something that Sanae had told him just a little bit ago: that Rhyme already had the capability of being an Angel. She didn't even have to die to become one. Rather, all one needed was to desire for her to ascend, and know how to code her Soul to allow that to happen. Well, if not for humans, the Angels definitely seemed to know how to look out for themselves.

"Rhyme," Joshua said, as he crawled over to the blond girl and shook her shoulders slightly to hint at the direness of the situation. "I need you to listen to me. This attack might have been for- Look, there's something you need to know about yourself-"

"Joshua, please let me go. And please leave." Shock worming its way into his heart, and freezing it over in a way it hadn't been since his parents had… Joshua took in the icy look in Rhyme's eyes, and flinched. While it was true they weren't vacant like they had been, and she seemed to be doing a bit better now, there was no denying a certain look she had in her eyes when she looked into his now. Fear.

"Rhyme, please just listen to me. It's important for you to know to watch out for-"

"No, I don't want to listen to you. You're a killer, too! You killed Neku! Oh, god-" And then as quickly as she had stopped, Joshua found that Rhyme was once again crying, as she began shaking with sobs.

As Joshua watched her for a moment, not knowing what he could say or even do, he had to wonder why her lone, single tears made him feel worse than he plethora of tears from earlier. Was it because he himself knew what it was like to be alone and shed those sort of tears, or was it something else entirely?

"I u-used to think that all killers were-weren't always evil. That they'd just needed someone to love th-them, too. B-b-but how can I excuse all of this? How c-can I even excuse you?"

And there it was. The stab to the heart that Joshua'd always known was coming in one way or another with Rhyme. At once, as her words really registered in his mind, Josh found himself enraged at Rhyme the way he'd once been enraged with all of Shibuya. It was only that he knew she was in shock—and that her peaceful thoughts from earlier contradicted all that she was saying now—that the Composer could keep his cool. Because really, she had no right to justify killers' actions. And she was right; not even his own actions could be justified, and Shibuya… well, it tried too hard to justify its evil. And though Rhyme's thoughts had had good intent behind them…

What really hurt Joshua more than anything, though, was knowing that he _had_ been trying to better himself since meeting Rhyme, and she hadn't even noticed it.

But even with all of that, Joshua felt more for Rhyme in this instance than he ever had before. Possibly because he, too, had been in a similar situation once. So pulling Rhyme to his side for his sanity more than her own, Joshua found himself kissing Rhyme's forehead, and trying in vain to dry her tears. He knew how she must have been suffering with the death of some of the people she'd known; it had been the same way Joshua had suffered with his parents' altercation, and seeing others he'd loved die.

As sunlight flittered its way in through the open door, Joshua didn't even see the way it set Rhyme's eyes alight, and seemed to heal a part of her that she'd lost. Instead, he felt how the sun—maybe even the Angels for once—blessing him with its light, and in that moment when Joshua felt better for it all, he knew exactly what to say to Rhyme. "I know it's hard, Raimu. And sometimes this world seems the darkest one of all. But I found when I was planning to destroy Shibuya that when things are at their worst, people are at their best. The good really does outweigh the bad. And though I might not be able to atone for my past choices, I can still make better ones with the new time I have. You will smile again, Rhyme. I promise."

And somewhere along the way of his words, Joshua's hands had ended up on Rhyme's cheek, as it guided her eyes to look into his. And as his lavender beheld her cerulean, Joshua felt he could look into Rhyme's very soul, even without using a Player Pin to do so. And it was… the most beautiful Soul he'd ever seen. It was guarded for now, yes. But Joshua knew the human spirit enough to know it would shine again soon. (Which was more than he could say about the souls that were inhuman. Souls like his.)

"You'll never hurt me, will you?" Rhyme asked so suddenly, and so out of character for her current actions, that Joshua almost had to wonder if he'd imagined her words. The moment Rhyme began looking into Joshua's eyes just as intently as he had been hers, he instantly wanted to recoil into his façade; he wanted to tell Raimu Bito that he would happily sacrifice her if it was something Shibuya needed.

However, what ended up leaving his mouth wasn't defensive at all, rather, it was probably the most vulnerable thing he'd ever said. "Never." And the instant the word left Joshua's mouth, he was surprised to realize it was true. He _would _never harm this girl who he'd put back together twice now: the girl he was beginning to think he knew better than himself.

Not liking at all where his truth had left him, Joshua decided to ask Rhyme a question of his own. A question he knew that would change everything forever, for whatever Rhyme said now… there would be no turning back from it. "You trust me, don't you? But more than that, you believe in me?"

And for the first time in what was starting to seem like a very long day, Joshua saw Rhyme's eyes light up with the mirth he'd come to associate with her. Quickly, her mouth moved to form what he assumed would be another adage of hers, but instead something else came spilling from her mouth, too. "Completely."

And though Joshua looked into Rhyme's eyes captivating eyes one more time, and even thought of kissing her and telling her everything (just for a moment), it was the weight she'd used when saying that word that made Joshua instantly realize he'd made a terrible mistake, and was what instantly made him retreat into his UG.

In the safety of his personal sanctuary, the ashen haired boy heard Rhyme mutter something he'd expected all along—that she loved him—and even though it was for her safety that he'd pulled away from her, Joshua had never felt more like a coward. The truth was that:

"You really shouldn't trust me, Rhyme. Not even a bit. I will _always_ be a killer. And though I know I can never hurt you, that doesn't mean I haven't plotted… plotted how I can use your new status to aid myself."

**Author's Note: Written because I think it's in moments like this that we are truly ourselves.**

**Also, this was written in response to the poor people that were killed at Sandy Hook elementary school. I know it's really late, but I needed to recognize that tragedy somehow. How I wish the world were a better place, and things like that didn't need to happen. –sigh-**

**Anyway, this chapter's important in a lot of ways. One, because it has some important foreshadowing for things that will happen later (I wonder if anyone's begun to see the big picture yet), and also because I think this is really the moment that pushed Joshua and Rhyme together. In my head, this is the moment they really realize they love each other, and that there's no turning back from it.**

**Although, I'm not entirely sure when this chapter place, so you guys can choose! Basically, it's obviously before they get together, and maybe a long time before that, too. After all, Joshua and Rhyme are a little unsure around each other here (or, perhaps more accurately, they're too comfortable around each other, and don't want to admit it), but it also takes place after all the KH3D stuff. So yeah.**

**Also, if any of you knows the A Game of Thrones/A Song of Ice and Fire series, you probably know who/what this is based off of. In fact, I recommend everyone watch: "Safe & Sound [Sansa&Sandor]" by TheHiddenStories on YouTube (as it inspired this whole chapter).**

**Oh, the "eye sex" Sandor and Sansa have in that one scene. And I'm sorry for that term! I didn't make it up, so don't blame me; it was just something TVD fandom used to describe Damon and Elena's longing stares towards each other back in the day. Basically, "eye sex" is the way Sandor and Sansa are looking at each other in the video I linked, and what Joshua and Rhyme did here. It's when you're looking at someone you truly love intently, but know you can't be together/when you're pretty much seeing into the person you love's soul, etc.**

**Anyway… Please review! And know that happier chapters are coming soon. (And though this chapter isn't really "happy" I still like some of the major Joshua and Rhyme things it brought forth, and comforting someone's always romantic, right? Plus, I needed at least chapter where Rhyme was afraid of all the things Joshua's done. Even if shock was really why she was acting the way she was…) This chapter was SUPPOSED to be cheery, but that Sandor and Sansa video inspired me to write this chapter (that I needed to write sometime, anyway). So yeah.**

**And sorry that I haven't updated in a bit. But I really needed a break from the Internet, this fandom, and writing. Hopefully I should be in the swing of things again, and able to update my stories better soon, so please look forward to that!**

**-Shan**


	17. Sweetest Day

**Sweetest Day**

Joshua wasn't entirely sure why he was at the school on this day; there weren't a surplus of Noise, and the Angels hadn't instructed him to pay attention to any of the lately. And as for frivolous reasons... well, Joshua wasn't in the mood to trade jibes with Neku and his friends today. There was one Soul in particular, though, that Joshua had to admit he was intrigued with. Rhyme's.

In truth, Rhyme's Soul had intrigued Joshua for a long while now: its innocence and light, why he was attracted to it, how it had the properties to ascend so that Rhyme could become an Angel, etc. But even those reasons weren't why Joshua wanted to locate Rhyme. Rather, it had to do with the most dreadful of dreadful days: Valentine's Day.

Now, don't get Joshua wrong. He adored the fanfare—and the countless Valentines he'd gotten (when he was alive, anyway)—as much as the next guy. That didn't mean, however, that he was blind to its ridiculousness, or that he didn't have certain qualms with it. For one thing, the Music that came to existence on Valentine's Day was so frantic and petty that... let's just say Joshua had thought more than once of finding a way of forever wiping it from the calendars.

Still, there were some good things to be wrought from V-Day, and as Joshua went up the last winding staircase in the school building, he knew he was getting closer to one of them. Levitating the slightest bit, but glamouring it so no one could see (he was sick of walking), Joshua found himself taking the right hall so that it might lead him to the girl that held his heart. The girl... the girl that he could never be upfront with.

It was only after Joshua took note of the bulletin board beside him (after purposefully knocking cards off of it, so people would have to pick them up later) that he remembered he probably should have gotten Rhyme something on this day. Or... maybe not. He still wasn't sure what Rhyme's stance on Valentine's Day was, after all. And wasn't that why White Day existed? Yes, that was it. If he'd vexed her in any way by not getting her a gift, he'd give her the best White Day she'd ever had: complete with him jumping out of the huge vanilla cake he'd give her. It was just perfect!

Too perfect, in fact. It would be when he was beginning to have fun on the terrible day, that it would all be ruined: like with the thoughts of one of Rhyme's friends, deeming that Rhyme deserved much better than him. For a second, Joshua thought about scowling at the youth that was walking past him, but instead opted to put a hand to his cheek, and smile his even smile while asking the jerk where he might find Rhyme. Joshua knew, of course. But if he needed to play the role of good boyfriend for Rhyme, then he would.

And he did. About a minute after his initial question, Joshua came back with information he'd already known, and a delay in getting to Rhyme, but perhaps it was for the best. Now he knew exactly what he wanted to ask Rhyme when he found her.

The nerve of that Yukito kid! Seriously, and he thought Joshua was bad for Rhyme?! At least he had the sense to not waste flowers on a stupid, popular girl like Yukito was doing (who wouldn't even remember Yukito's gift, with the countless others she got).

Irritated to no end now, Joshua quickly stormed through the swim team's gymnasium, and once he walked (levitated) to the end of that area, he shouldered open the door to the girl's locker room, and began his search for Rhyme. Fortunately, as it was already very late after school, Joshua knew full well that everyone other than Rhyme had left. One thing he hadn't been counting on, though, was Rhyme showering.

Feeling a little embarrassed for his hastiness, Joshua was beginning to wonder if he should just wait for his girlfriend outside (as it was becoming very, very difficult to not sneak a peak at her), but the moment he heard the water turn off, he knew she couldn't be too long. And sure enough, much faster than he'd even anticipated, Rhyme was dressed with her school bag slung over her shoulder, and was walking right past where Joshua hid behind the lockers.

Giggling slightly at Rhyme's obliviousness, Joshua decided he could _not_ have Rhyme ignoring him, and so didn't hesitate at all in deciding to teleport in front of her, and smile broadly, as he exclaimed, "Hello there, Raimu!"

And, of course, Joshua supposed he probably should have expected Rhyme to stop breathing in shock, and to fall onto the floor as she grasped at her racing heart. Feeling a bit of remorse for scaring Rhyme the way he had, Joshua instantly helped her to her feet, and mouthed apologies to her.

However, as he began looking her over, and noted that her longer hair looked positively lovely when wet, he found he wasn't sorry at all. After all, if he hadn't acted when he had, Rhyme might have well begun blow-drying her hair, and then Joshua wouldn't have gotten to see the rare, beautiful site of her without her beanie.

There was something positively attractive about her like this, Joshua thought. Perhaps it had to do with how he knew there weren't any large bodies of water in Shibuya? Yes, that had to be it. Because if Rhyme ever went to one, and swam in it like she did in this pool, she _would_ look like this, but... the heart always wanted what it couldn't have, didn't it? As Joshua was rooted in Shibuya, he knew well that if Rhyme ever went to a beach, he could never follow her. Eventually, he'd have to let her go...

"Happy Valentine's Day, Joshua!" Rhyme said cheerily enough, after she'd seemingly calmed down from her shock. Standing on her tiptoes, Rhyme was quick to wrap her arms around Joshua's neck, and kiss the corner of his mouth. And when she pulled back, and smiled at him slightly, Joshua found he'd never been gladder for her attention. There was something coming over him, it seemed. And though Joshua wasn't entirely sure what it was, he was happy to have Rhyme there with him all the same. "Anyway, I made us reservations at someplace nice. I think you'll be proud of me for that! But since that taxed my wallet out completely, I'm afraid that means you're getting no chocolate this yea-"

"Valentine's Day is a farce, don't you know that, Rhyme?" And before Joshua could even fathom exactly where the words were coming from, and why his façade was cracking so, he found himself pushing Rhyme up against the lockers rather roughly, and lavishing her neck in kisses. In the back of his mind, Joshua knew exactly what had him feeling out of sorts; in his subconscious, he knew full well why he was acting this way, but the forefront of his mind had no idea why he was kissing Rhyme the way he was.

It _was_ pleasurable, he thought, as his mouth returned to Rhyme's to partake in their usual tug-of-war. And it wasn't the first time they had done such a thing, either. Still... even though Rhyme seemed to be enjoying his ministrations rather well, Joshua knew for certain that there was more to her cupping his face than just a need to put her hand somewhere. She was worried about him and any second now, she'd be pulling away from him to ask him what was wrong.

Completely contrary to his belief, though, Joshua found that it was _he_ pulling away from the sanctuary of Rhyme's arms, and continuing on like nothing had stopped his flow of thoughts. "I mean, think of all the poor people who don't get anything! I'll admit that I enjoyed getting a ton of Valentines while I was alive. Even if it was just a popularity contest, but how could I turn a blind eye when it was my father's whore getting all of the gifts from him, and not my mother? Worse than that, she got stuff from other people, too!"

In the end, Joshua didn't know what was worse: that he'd just spilled things about his past to Rhyme that he'd vowed he never would, or that these things were still troubling him. Clenching his hand into a fist—and holding it to his chest, because he didn't know exactly what he wanted to do about anything anymore—Joshua took a deep breath, and tried to not think.

Why, oh why, was he still concerned with these things now? Wasn't all of this exactly why he'd gone to the UG? So as to not deal with such trivial things (such pain)? And yet- and yet here he was bleeding himself dry to Rhyme, with seemingly no way to stop it.

It was when Rhyme reached up to caress Joshua's face, with water dripping from her hand, that Joshua thought maybe Rhyme could share in some of his metaphorical bleeding, after all. Or maybe… maybe she could stop it all together. Though it went against the grain to think such things—and to _not_ be running away from his emotions for once—Joshua found himself fervently hoping that if Rhyme did end up leaving him, she would at least stay with him for a little while before doing so.

And with how foolish that thought was, Joshua found himself desperately wanting to just _run away_ from Rhyme, and put his mask back on, but for some reason… he was rooted to the spot, and rooted to his emotions. He couldn't do anything but wait for Rhyme's judgment and somehow, that was the most ironic thing of all.

"Joshua," Rhyme finally said at last, when she seemingly noted all the fight had left him. And as he took a moment to brave looking into Rhyme's kind and worried eyes, Joshua found himself suddenly feeling worse for it all (to his utter shame), and somehow a lot better, too. Rhyme… she really did work wonders. And at least she was holding his hand through it all. At least there was that. "Did you ever think that those people might deserve all of that somehow? I mean, you of course know your life story better than I do, but… I've come to realize that there's no denying there's a higher power in this world, and maybe it just isn't for us to question these things. Let's look at Charelle, for instance. I had been judging her for her popularity before, and I… I'd had no idea she'd been molested as a child. Maybe all the love she can get now is exactly what she needs in her life, and maybe we should respect that."

There was a minute pause, in which Joshua chose to look away from Rhyme (he was much saner without her eyes boring into him, and making him feel funny things), and just listen to the water falling from her wet locks onto the floor. And in that, as he heard the droplets' rhythm becoming similar to that of Partners' shared heartbeats in the Game, that Joshua thought he was beginning to return a little bit to his usual self. And when he thought about it all—cupping a hand under his chin to do so—Joshua found he had to laugh at the stupidity of it all. Once again, Rhyme wasn't nearly as oblivious as he thought. Especially if the way she was now fanning a piece of paper over her hair (seeming to try and dry it a bit) was any indication.

And she wasn't wrong. Joshua had known such a thing about Charelle for quite some time, so maybe she was right in that, at least. And though it was downright laughable to think that Rhyme knew what she was talking about at all where his past was concerned, Joshua did understand where she was coming from; it was just in her nature to look for the good in everything.

And perhaps it was for that reason that Joshua found himself pulling Rhyme to his side (in a gesture other couples were known for), and said much gentler than he'd intended, "You're a fool, Rhyme."

And finding himself looking into Rhyme's lovely eyes again, despite his better judgment, for the first time that Joshua could recall… he knew what Rhyme's quip was going to be long before she said it. It could have been because of his foresight, but when Rhyme responded with her, "We're all fools in love, Joshua," he knew that he'd known it for a different reason entirely. True to what he'd said before, he really was beginning to know Rhyme even better than he knew himself, and in that, Joshua thought that maybe Rhyme's place truly was with him.

"Now come on, Joshua!" Rhyme exclaimed, as she jumped up the slightest bit to elbow him in the face. (Whether she was trying to get back at him for something, or snap him out of his funk, Joshua didn't know. He thought he had a bit of a metallic taste in his mouth, though.) "I know that look in your eyes, and I know enough to realize our dinner plans just got cancelled. Now let's go see if Charelle's going to appreciate those Valentines, like I think she will."

And though Joshua was a bit unsettled to know just how _much_, Rhyme was beginning to understand him too, he followed her nonetheless, but more importantly, he smiled.

It seemed as though Joshua wasn't as strong, as needless, or as all-knowing as he'd come to think he was, and he was thankful that Rhyme was there to remind him of that. That she was there to let him know that there _was_ a higher power, and though he was a god… he wasn't God. So maybe… maybe their bond wasn't as unattainable as Joshua had come to think it would be. Maybe...

…

In the end, Joshua and Rhyme did end up spying on Charelle, to see if she really did care about all the gifts she received. Why exactly it was so important to him, Joshua wasn't entirely sure. Granted, he did like a good mystery, but it seemed to go beyond that. Could it be that he was looking for some way to redeem Valentine's Day in his eyes? Or was it something else? Joshua didn't know at all where his thoughts were anymore, and though that was certainly worrying in its own right… Joshua was beginning to think their whole endeavor was pointless. Completely pointless.

As daylight gave into twilight, and a scene unfolded before them, Joshua realized he should have known, of course, that Charelle would take to prancing around her room like any other girl who had gotten a hundred Valentines. The only possible exception to that rule was … Rhyme.

Still not entirely sure if he was meant to get Rhyme something for White Day or not (though Joshua thought taking her out via her original date plan for them was a must), he found himself trying to gauge Rhyme's facial expressions, and thus becoming distracted. On one hand, he was quite interested in the almost heart shaped one-piece Rhyme was wearing (and the way the darkness seemed to paint her lips a glossy purple shade was also nice).

What was even more pressing, though, was that foresight was prickling in the back of Joshua's mind, and somehow… he knew that Rhyme being on the swimming team wasn't right. Whether it was because she wasn't supposed to have dreams after the Game, or something else, Joshua couldn't say, but he had a bad feeling that-

"You know, this is actually fun. You love your mysteries, and I'm enjoying exploring this one with you. It's like an old-fashioned stakeout on TV shows… Although, I've already proven I'm right!"

As Rhyme peered over at him with a wicked gleam in her eyes, Joshua was momentarily taken from his thoughts, in wondering if Rhyme had figured out he just wanted to spend time with her (since the mystery, like she had said, had already been solved).

Then again, she could have just been planning to steal a swig of his grape slushy. And as the latter ended up being true, (and the sound of her sucking air through the straw proved that Rhyme had drunk all of his drink), Joshua wondered if maybe it had been foresight that had made her lips like purple to him earlier. Huh…

Smiling a bit sadistically himself now—as he got closer to Rhyme, preparing to "punish" her in kisses, despite what her answer was—Joshua wanted to ask if she meant to make all of his favorite drinks go extinct, but instead, he found himself saying something _completely _different. "You should be cross with me for all of this, Rhyme. For a lot of things, actually, so why are you still here with me? I know full well what your friends think of me."

It would have been comedic, that at the shock of Joshua's words, Rhyme's eyes had bulged, and she'd dropped the straw from her mouth, so that the remaining bits of ice fell onto his sleeve, if… if Joshua hadn't been so dang embarrassed, and unsure of why he'd just said what he had.

Putting a hand to his forehead feeling a migraine coming on, he had to wonder just what had come over him all day. Ugh. He was almost certain Rhyme wasn't going to answer him (he wouldn't have blamed her either; he'd just asked one of the dreaded "questions to not ask your Partner"), but when she leaned in even closer to him still, and put a hand on his own, he could tell from her earnest expression that she was going to tell him just what he wanted to hear. And as it was, Joshua ventured he'd never loved Rhyme more than he did in that moment.

"Joshua, they've told me that you're the incarnation of pride from the 'seven deadly sins'. And though that _is_ true enough, to be sure… it doesn't change the fact that I love you. Or that you _do_ make everything worthwhile. You're changing in your own special way, and-"

"And even though you could have gotten pneumonia from this venture, you trusted me enough to protect you?" Joshua asked in a sugary-sweet tone, as he flipped a strand of ashen hair out of his face. In truth, Rhyme very easily could have gotten sick from them having gone to spy on Charelle with her hair still soaked, so… even if Rhyme hadn't realized it consciously, she must have known Joshua had her best interests at heart.

Still, even if he was behaving more like himself to mock her in such a way, Joshua had to wonder just why the heck he was blabbing on about that, when Rhyme's lips were so close to him now, that he assumed that she could quickly begin kissing up _his_ neck.

Rhyme, perhaps realizing where Joshua's thoughts might have taken him, was quick to curl her hand up into a fist. Smelling the woody scent of the ring she adorned, Joshua almost wondered if she was going to hit him again (clearly if he could smell her ring, her fist was close enough for her to do so), but instead she just patted him on the back patronizingly.

Looking at Rhyme from the corner of his eye, Joshua decided he would have to remember that later. _He_ was supposed to be the superior one in the relationship, not her. He'd have to get back at her for that late-

"Yes, even then. But trusted you to take care of me in the best way you knew how, and you did. Also, this has been my most _interesting_ Valentine's Day yet. And that's more than enough, Joshua. Much more than enough."

And as Joshua understood exactly what Rhyme had just echoed (it had been words she had said to him on their first date), his thoughts of "revenge" and hate for Valentine's Day were momentarily forgotten. And pulling Rhyme into his arms for the most innocent embrace they'd ever shared, Joshua found himself muttering words he thought he'd never say… but words he meant all the same. "I'm going to try and be a better person for you, Raimu. Though I'll always be prideful, I can try to be less so, right?"

"Joshua, you never had to try," Rhyme whispered against Josh's chest, as she chose to ignore the sarcastic part of his comment. And though Joshua thought about poking fun at her for it, in the end, he opted to wrap his arms around Rhyme delicately and meaningfully, and lean his forehead against hers.

There would be time for other sides of their relationship later. Right now, he just wanted to stay with Rhyme—the girl he loved—in the sweetest embrace they'd ever had. And as Rhyme had said, this was much more than enough. And maybe… maybe Valentine's Day wasn't as bad as Joshua had come to think, but more than that… Joshua knew that Sweetest Day was even better. _Rhyme_…

**Author's Note: Written because someone requested I do a V-Day Joshyme chapter, though I don't remember whom, because I fail. Anyway, I hope this is to everyone's liking.**

**I actually had some issues with this one. At first, it was coming out so easily and flawlessly, but yesterday when I tried to write for it… well, it was all I could do to get the dialogue out. I was feeling it more today, and was able to finish it, so hopefully it's decent. Especially since this sort of went in a different direction than I originally intended. But hey. I wanted to keep this non-cliché and still Joshyme-y, so maybe that's a good thing?**

**Still. This is probably the fluffiest/cheesiest Joshyme thing I've done yet. And once again, don't expect all the chapters to be like this! This is probably one of the last chapters before everything goes to hell for them in my imagined timeline, so yeah…**

**And I just realized that a lot of people are going to see this title years from now, and think this is a SWEETEST DAY fic instead of a V-Day one. Oops. Oh well, I guess.**

**Anyway, happy V-Day, peeps. Love you all. Please review!**

**And pray I get better from being sick?**

**-Shan**

**P.S. I MIGHT be making a SoKai V-Day pic on my dA account (DenizenofTwilight). Maybe. So be on the look out for it, maybe? :)**


	18. Dear John

**Author's Note: My vain attempt to try and not quit Joshyme, and get back into writing for this, but… For the few people who still care about this, Joshyme, and want me to finish this story… I'm doing this for you.**

**Dear John**

Rhyme's phone was ringing again. Lifting her head up from where she'd been resting it on her knees, the blond rewarded her mobile device with a look of disdain, before the disdain melted to regret and then to full on tears and heartbreak.

As all the chaos of her thoughts swirled around in her head, it was all Rhyme could do to hold onto her Player Pin with trembling hands. She knew well that if she lost her damned Pin now, Joshua would more than happily take the chance to penetrate her mind. In fact, she supposed his desire to listen to, or even alter, her Music must have been stronger now than it ever had before, seeing as how… she as how she was no longer answering his calls.

Nor would she ever answer him again. Had it only been just a few days ago that Rhyme'd been in the hospital? Had it only been a mere seventy-three and a half hours since she'd told him she never wanted to see him again? It had been, hadn't it?

The worst part of it all? Rhyme thought she'd probably destroyed herself even more thoroughly than she had Yoshiya. And, no, she wasn't as stupid as to think she hadn't hurt him, too. As always, Rhyme almost wished she could just forgive everything Joshua had done, and alleviate him of his heartache. Perhaps the fact she wasn't going to him now was a sign that she'd simply grown up.

Or maybe… maybe it was a sign that he'd been right all along. She never should have believed in him. And now… now Rhyme couldn't believe in anything anymore. All in one stupid and pain-inducing moment her entire world had been turned on its head, and she couldn't make sense of any of it anymore. Maybe she really was as foolish as Joshua had led her to believe in the past. Even so, she somehow felt even more foolish now.

"_I wanted to help you, Joshua. I wanted to help you so badly, and I was starting to think I had. Even stupider of me: I thought you wanted that, too. And I thought I actually had helped, but I was wrong. I was so, so wrong."_

"Yo, Rhyme! Ya wants me ta beat Prissy's ass?"

Pulled out of her reverie somewhat, it took Rhyme a moment to realize she hadn't spoken aloud, and Beat was just speaking very keenly whilst he stood outside of her door.

Hugging a pillow against her chest, before shaking her head back and forth (momentarily forgetting that Beat couldn't see her), Rhyme suddenly found that she just felt completely drained. So very drained. She also knew that she was worrying her family and friends a ridiculous amount in her current state, and that right there was almost enough to make her perk up (for their sake if not her own).

However, feeling much like a puppet that had had its strings cut, Rhyme found she just didn't have it in her to face anyone anymore. She certainly didn't have it in her to lie at the moment, which was exactly what she _needed _to do. She couldn't let any of her friends believe that Joshua had done something worse than she'd originally led them to believe. If they knew that he had hurt-

They just couldn't know. That was that. And as such a thought righted itself in Rhyme's head, she suddenly found that she was pondering something she hadn't even given much thought to in a long, long time: leaving. It had seemed such a long time ago that she'd been offered the chance to go to America to study. Though the idea had certainly seemed interesting to her, Rhyme had opted to live in the moment like Mr. H had taught her to, and decide on it later. And, of course, there had been the contributing factor that she hadn't wanted to leave Shibuya, since Joshua was bound there.

"_I was an idiot. I was such an idiot."_

Though there was, sadly, no way for Rhyme to go back and undo her mistakes (no matter how much she wanted to be able to), maybe she could finally be smart about things now. Maybe a clean star was just what she needed. She needed to get far away from Shibuya, the Game, and all its ramifications. Maybe then… maybe then she could become the person she'd been meant to be all along before… before Yoshiya Kiryu disrupted her life. Though it was true she wasn't sure she could even touch who she'd once been before, she could at least try.

Even more importantly, though, she had to get Beat away from Joshua. If he ever found out that it had been him that had shot her (accidental or not), she knew she'd be picking pieces of her brother off the pavement. Joshua had never been in his right mind, Rhyme reflected now. But it would be even worse now, wouldn't it?

With all of these thoughts in mind, Rhyme left the dark room she'd locked herself in for days, and piled her ponytail up under her beanie, so no one could even see her hair. Then, she made plans with her brother and parents for their departure, and Rhyme prepared to turn her back on Shibuya without a second glance. It was just full of too much pain for her now. Neku reminded her too much of Joshua, and thus she couldn't even be around him. Shiki, though trying to help, was obviously on Neku's side, and thus Rhyme felt ostracized from her, as well. Of course there was no way she could go anywhere near Mr. Hanekoma anymore, and Eri…

In truth, Eri was the one person Rhyme still felt the closest and safest around. She suspected that was because the girl had been touched so little by the Game, but even she Rhyme had to say goodbye to, and she did so with as much grace as she was able.

…

After saying all of her goodbyes, and getting ready to board her plane, Rhyme knew there was only one thing left for her to do. Removing her Player Pin from out of her beanie, and letting her hair out to fly freely in the wind (Joshua had liked seeing her with long hair, after all), Rhyme thought one thing to her former lover, before destroying her Player Pin beneath her own heeled boot.

"_Joshua, you once told me you were incapable of love. Maybe you were, maybe you weren't. I don't know what's right anymore, but know that I loved you so much that it completely consumed me. Which is why I have to go away now. This can't work for either of us, because even right now—after everything that's happened and all you've put me through—I still can't see how my feelings are wrong. I have no idea how it all went so array when it always seemed so perfect to me. It is still perfect to me. But maybe that's a sign my Soul is corrupting after all, huh? _

"_We'd thought this might end up happening, but I suppose we'd hoped the opposite might occur, too. And maybe if we're lucky, it still will. I can't stay with you, Joshua, because from the beginning I wanted to help you, and I think you really did want that, too… But, I can't be a good influence to you the way I am now, but I can at least give you one last thing: mostly good memories of me. It's with this mindset that I'm leaving you now, and that I will leave you this last gift. I love you, Joshua. And as much as I try to fight it, I know I always will."_

Nodding to herself one last time for her decision, and hoping against all hope that Joshua somehow might seen and understand her resolve, Rhyme smiled at the beautiful city before her, and with her brother putting a hand around her shoulder to admire the view himself, the two began leading each other away from the place that had taken their lives, but had also more than given them back. They were about to embark for their new adventure and home, and though this was a different sort of feeling she was experiencing now, Rhyme couldn't help but feel this was right, too.

Letting Beat go on ahead, Rhyme wondered if maybe Joshua was in the UG somewhere around her. That would have been nice. It would have given her some sort of closure, at least. At least there was that. And somehow, Rhyme thought that was all she'd have for the rest of her existence, unless she ended up seeing Joshua again. And she couldn't even entertain that thought.

**Author's Note: I don't think this piece is as polished as I usually make things, but as this ended up being a vent piece, I suppose it might work well-ish for the situation.**

**Yeah… this is pretty much one of the last chapters in their timeline. In fact, I don't even know if I should be showing this to you all yet, but this just poured out of me, so… maybe it'll give me the inspiration to continue this collection?**

**Anyway, the title of this is inspired by Taylor Swift's "Dear John", which is pretty much Rhyme's anthem about Joshua here.**

**Also, I'm sorry the ending sucks so much. Originally it was longer and better, but I realized it contradicted things I'd already done, so I had to cut it. Sorry. And this chapter happens right before "Silenced". If you reread that chapter now, this might explain some of it. In fact, the last sentence of this pretty much sets up Rhyme seeing Joshua again against all odds.**

**Btw, Rhyme is completely justified in her responses here. Seriously. Joshua's done a lot of craptastic things in this story (some things you guys don't even know about yet). But I will admit there's a lot she doesn't know about certain things, some of which even you guys should know.**

**And in other news, my laptop completely broke, and I've sort of lost the will to write because of it. I lost so many files on that. –sigh- I'm so sick of this crap.**

**Oh, and if you people have never seen "Pullea Magi Madoka Magica" go watch it now. It's absolutely brilliant, and the mood of it somewhat inspired a lot of this piece. Yeah…**

**Not gonna lie, I cried watching that anime, and I cried writing a lot of this. I'm in a weird mood today. I'm gonna shut up now.**

**-Shan**


	19. Chocolate Rain

**Chocolate Rain**

The world seemed to blur around Rhyme, as she moved faster and faster on her ice skates. She knew Neku was probably close behind her—Shiki too, for that matter—and Beat was most likely still hanging onto the walls desperately.

And though usually she would have stayed with Beat to help him get some "ice legs" (she had for part of the day, and knew she would later, as well), she had to admit it was fun just letting loose like this. As the world seemed to turn to shades of blue before Rhyme's eyes, it just seemed to become even more beautiful and surreal. And it was to that end that she was so glad she'd come to help Joshua see the good in the world. That she-

"Oh, crap!" With a sudden loss of grace that was best fitted for some sort of anime mishap, Rhyme suddenly found she was falling through the air and getting closer and closer to the ice with each passing second. In truth, she wasn't sure which she was most worried about: the injury to her face that she was sure to get, or the idea that her shirt (that had, unfortunately, shrunk in the washer) might give everyone a show of her bare midriff. Fumbling to try and get her arms over her face, Rhyme was able to let out one tiny squeak before…

Before she was suddenly being cradled in Joshua's arms, as he kept her from careening to the floor. As everything seemed to move in slow motion for the moment, Rhyme couldn't help but feel like Ryoko had, when she'd fallen from her fight with Kagato in "Tenchi." In fact, as she accidentally hit her nose against Joshua's face, Rhyme was almost certain she probably now had lines ordaining her face, the way anime characters did when they got hurt.

Yeah… she could do well without getting brown bruises all over her face, Rhyme thought as Joshua repositioned them somewhat with his "awesome Composer powers".

And speaking of brown, it sure seemed that Joshua was showing a different side of himself at the moment, and Rhyme only had… Only had the "life is like a box of chocolates" quote in her head to somewhat fit such a situation. Where were all of her normal adages? Where were her dear quotes and proverbs?

It was a strange day, indeed, wasn't it? Especially when Rhyme found herself recalling how it had been their day with "pocky" that had more or less been the beginning of her and Joshua's relationship.

But if similar and weird thoughts were crossing Joshua's mind, he sure wasn't showing it. Instead, he was completely successful in saving Rhyme from her plummet, but after the fact was quick to pull her in the sit-in area, while he played at his phone.

Eying Joshua for a moment curiously (or more accurately, the strange game he was playing), Rhyme thought she could probably do without getting back out on the ice _right _away. In fact, as she took the moment to inspect her skates, she knew exactly what her problem had been to fall in the first place: she'd gotten her laces tangled.

Sighing to herself, Rhyme knew that there was nothing she could do about it until Neku came around again (as he was the only one who could get her laces exactly right for her); so maybe inspecting what her boyfriend was doing wouldn't be _too_ terrible an alternative, then? And what her boyfriend was doing… was playing some stupid Facebook game?

Yep. There was no denying it; as Rhyme leaned closer to Joshua to see what he was playing better, she could easily make out the form of an animated girl falling on balloons. It was a strange sort of click and drag game, but Rhyme did think it could be fun to mess with sometimes.

Basically? There was some girl continuously falling on balloon like things, and you could either move her around and alter her course for the hell of it, or just let the animation do its work.

Giggling to herself a little bit, Rhyme remembered how Beat loved to knock this particular avatar into the Helium filled orbs all the time (probably because he, too, was a terrible klutz in life). As for how Joshua played the game…

"Dude. You're controlling this 'game' way too much. This isn't an RPG. Part of the fun is just seeing how the game itself is programmed." Grinning a little bit at the thought of it all, Rhyme imagined that the idea of relaxing into a fall (with flowers or something to cushion you, of course) sounded positively heavenly. Especially since her feet were more than a little sore from all the skating.

Except… Yeah, she'd been watching way too much Tenchi, hadn't she? She certainly could have done without her current mental image of Ryoko falling onto only to be stabbed by Kagato. Even worse: Rhyme had been chewing on a red lollipop earlier. In fact, she could almost imagine her mouth filling up with the blood such a fall would evok-

"Is my dear Raimu fretting over nonsense again?" Joshua asked playfully, as he flipped an ashen strand of hair out of his face, and met Rhyme with the challenging stare he reserved only for her. As he leaned a bit closer to intertwine their hands together, Rhyme almost missed completely that Joshua was using his powers to fix her skates… and that he seemed to want her to stay and talk with him.

"Control is needed in every aspect of life. Trust me: my job as Composer would be much simpler if it wasn't true, but it is what it is, I'm afraid. By the way," Joshua remarked when he put a hand to his cheek, and looked at Rhyme with a particular glint in his eyes (all the while Rhyme tried to plan how to steal his phone from him). "You're becoming very cruel. What if that girl was someone with a broken parachute, who needed guiding to safety? Do you think my help would be too 'controlling', then?"

God damnit! When Joshua put it like that, Rhyme knew that it did make her seem rather heartless. But she wasn't missing Joshua's obsession with control, either. Though at least he was beginning to have more fun and be more willy-nilly with the group (though Rhyme wished strongly that she could just get him to freakin' skate with her for once!). And looking back on it, he hadn't gone swimming that time with them, either…

"Why must we always disagree on everything?" Rhyme asked playfully, as she stood up straight, so that she could reach Joshua's face and bonk him on the nose. _He's getting taller_, Rhyme observed, as Joshua rubbed his face in mock irritation. And though she wouldn't have said this in a million years, the truth was… she was very glad for the fact. It truly seemed that Joshua could, in fact, control his age and appearance. So maybe, then, she wouldn't have to die young to-

"Because life's more fun that way- Hey!"

Laughing aloud at the enraged look on Joshua's face—as she finally succeeded in stealing his phone from him—Rhyme thought about telling Joshua she was simply taking revenge for all the times he'd stolen her beanie, but thought better of it when she noted the game he'd been playing had changed. Instead of what it had been before, it looked like some kid was trying to balance a tan ball with a baseball bat?

"Hey, Josh. What happened? This isn't what we—you—" Rhyme was quick to change her use of the plural to the singular when she saw the Composer's raised eyebrow, "were playing before. What gives?"

"See, my dear? This is why you shouldn't steal a phone that has things you don't understand. It looks like you stumbled on the beginning of our dear Sora's game."

"What?!" Rhyme asked, startled, as she wondered if their friend Sora would really have a game made about him. Sure stranger things had happened, but…

Oh, dang. She really needed to keep it down, huh? Frowning guiltily at the form of her brother, Rhyme found that Beat had heard her outburst, and had tried to get to her… only to fall on his ass. Bowing and mouthing apologies to Beat while she turned to Joshua red-faced, she almost wondered if he'd Imprinted on Beat and herself to get him to fall down, but-.

Even more interesting: Rhyme was quickly finding that the "Sora game" must have been real hush-hush or something, because the moment she turned around, and looked at Joshua and his cell again, she noted the game had once again changed. This time, though, it _did_ bare more similarities to the game he'd been playing originally.

Looking it over closely, as she practically sat in Joshua's lap to make sure he wouldn't change it again, Rhyme was quick to notice the scenery and characters from "The Legend of Korra". Apparently Joshua was now playing some Water Bending mini-game? Except… "Wow, Josh. This is terrible. The controls look god-awful. I _really_ hope that Sora game you're working on has better mechanics than this."

"Well, I am a Composer, not a video game designer. Though I do have to applaud you for guessing I made these last two games. However, I can't tell you anything about that Sora one. Sorry."

Ha! Joshua didn't seem sorry at all! What, with the way he was nibbling on Rhyme's hair all antagonistically. Squeezing his fingers where they lie on her heart in silent rebuke, Rhyme had to admit she and Joshua had to be the strangest couple ever.

Like, she'd realized long ago that Joshua would sometimes say or do mean things with her, either to show her he wasn't all nice, or to ward off Rhyme getting too smug about things, but even for this weirdness… Rhyme accepted and loved Joshua, anyway (even having adopted some of his weird tendencies herself). After all, she'd know long before she'd gotten involved with Joshua that it would be no easy thing. And this certainly was a lesser evil.

In truth, Rhyme was happy with how far she and Joshua had come. And that… and that they could even have normal encounters and dates now. In fact, his role as Composer or the Game didn't even really come into question with them anymore. And when they did come up, they were no longer the big deal they'd used to be.

That wasn't saying that things were easier for Joshua's ruling, of course, or that he was keeping Rhyme from everything (to the contrary, Joshua loved scaring Rhyme sometimes with the strangest details about things), but they had… become stronger together. They had become Partners in every sense of the word, and when Joshua confided in Rhyme, she could almost believe they could accomplish anything together. Especially in moments like this, when he was holding her, and she lay against him so content that she was almost drowsy.

Lazily, Rhyme watched before her as Beat accidentally knocked Neku down for the umpteenth time (to an array of Neku's curses, of course), and Shiki danced around them with Mr. Mew happily.

Surprisingly, Shiki was pretty grateful with ice skating (when she could be a bit clumsy other times). And as Shiki had taken to putting ice skates on Mr. Mew's paws, even, Rhyme almost wondered if the cat plushie could even be more graceful than her mistress if given the chance. She was half tempted to ask Joshua to animate Mr. Mew so she could find out (though he couldn't really do it, of course, since there were other people around), but before she could even utter a word, Rhyme found that Joshua was already interrupting her. Growling under her breath, she looked up at her boyfriend resignedly.

"You know, speaking of our dear Sora and games that will be made about his life… It's almost sad he has to fight as much as he does, don't you think? He doesn't seem to ever get a break. I could never be a Keyblade wielder, I know."

No way in hell could he be, Rhyme agreed. Joshua was far too lazy. And of late, it almost seemed Mr. H and her (and some of the others from time to time) were doing most of his work for him! Rhyme was about to swat Joshua on the arm for such a thing, but he beat her to the punch line (as always), when he said, "Though I suppose it can't be all bad. Sora winning victories all the time must be nice for Kairi, when it comes to their marital bed. War and sex are so very tightly linked. Both are about one dominating the other. In fact, I won-"

"Jangle!" Rhyme exclaimed embarrassed as all hell, as she looked around frantically for Beat, to make sure he hadn't heard (oh god, it would have been so bad if he had heard!). And once again, Rhyme found herself way too aware of her now-closely-knit-shirt. As flustered as she was (Joshua looking at her all innocent and starry-eyed wasn't helping things at all! And why did he always have to play with and stare at her hair?!), Rhyme didn't even have it in her to explain the Aqua "jangle" story to him. No doubt he was lost, but- but…

"Oh my gosh, Joshua! I can't believe you just said that with Beat near! Gah! Please tell me you don't get such 'benefits' from your Game! Just lie if you have to, and tell me that! Oh god… I can't think of any of this the same way again! And with the Shark Noise and-"

Slamming a hand over her mouth at Joshua's far too mirthful expression (he was just eating all this up, she knew!), Rhyme knew full well that her ranting was just making everything worse, and that she should have known Joshua could and would do something like this, but… Well, what would you do if your boyfriend—who was starting to come on to you more and more—asked you in a very public place if you'd be the dominant one?

And though Rhyme wanted to just ignore the whole thing altogether (escape him and continue skating, if she had to), she couldn't help remembering an article that had said one acted the opposite of their usual self in bed-

"Oh, Raimu. You are so very charming and sweet. And it's moments like this that I'm reminded of just why I've bothered with you. Calm down now. I'm only teasing."

_Yeah, he was teasing all right!_ Rhyme thought sarcastically, as Joshua took to putting his own skates on either side of her legs. Though the action looked innocent enough, Rhyme knew _exactly_ what lay behind the action. He was just… so very Ryoko! There was no other thing she could even think to describe it!

"Well," Joshua began in a tone that seemed to hint he was about to contradict himself. As he ticked different things off with his fingers, Rhyme thought he was going to continue where he left off just as soon as he collected his thoughts. Instead, though, he quickly pecked her on the lips. And only when Rhyme thought that maybe was being nice and sincere about everything, after all… he grinned devilishly, and remarked, " For the most part, anyway. But you should know I'm the king of innuendo by now, dear."

_Yeah, when it comes to Neku. Not me! And you never went this far with before! And man, does my heart feel even flutterier from last night's endeavors now..._ Deciding not to say any of this (and instead endeavoring to smack Joshua upside the head, so he'd pull away from her and quit thinking he'd won their match), Rhyme mulled things over for a bit, whilst she once again found Joshua's hands.

Running her fingers over his lovingly and gently, she meant to show him that that was the only thing he should have been doing in front of Beat, but somehow… Somehow the dirtiest words she'd ever uttered ended up leaving her lips, before she could even think them over. "Joshua shut up, and just give me your balls."

Of course, Rhyme only meant such a thing in reference to his different phone games, but the minute _Joshua_ amazingly turned red for once, and looked at Rhyme with a mixture of astonishment, humor, but mostly pride… she half expected him to bow to her, instantly and anoint her the queen of innuendo or something.

But unfortunately for her, as Joshua dug out what she dubbed "his snotty face", and talked rather rudely, compared to the way he'd been talking lately, Rhyme knew all she'd managed to do was up the ante when it came to their debates. Would she ever learn?

"Tenchi Muyo, huh? I was never a big fan of that harem anime, but I am proud of you for reciting things from anime now. I was starting to think you'd become to Americanized somehow."

Just when Joshua uttered those words (slinging his scarf over his shoulder so it whacked her on the face very Chuck Bass-esque and Slyterhin-y), Rhyme was more than half-tempted to tell Joshua that it was a very good thing she _was _cultured. She also meant to tell him he was a hypocrite, as he somehow seemed to know a lot of her different series himself. Instead of any of these things, though, Rhyme slumped down where she'd been sitting, and took comfort in Joshua's arm wrapping around her, as he patted her back soothingly. At least he could be nice in _this _way, if nothing else. "You suck so much, Joshua. You just do, and I hate you."

Knowing full well that Joshua was going to answer her, but not even really caring anymore, since she was suddenly very tired (and in truth was just enjoying her silly chat with Josh; his reply didn't matter to her in the slightest), Rhyme almost missed the irony of what Joshua said next, as he whispered against her ear. "Yeah, but you love me, anyway. And it's for that reason that when I write my bestseller—a book of sexual innuendos hidden behind an epic—you'll publish it for me."

As Joshua leaned his head against Rhyme's, and suddenly seemed to be resting himself, it was almost too much work for Rhyme to disturb their perfect moment and realize that… that it really had been books and other deep discussions that had brought them together. And even weirder than all of that, Rhyme could see easily how her dream could be to become an author. She enjoyed love, life, and good stories…so wouldn't have just been perfect for her if she chose that path? Or, perhaps, the path she had chosen before… "Joshua, wait. Was my dream before the Game to be an-"

"Come on, Raimu. Let's blow this Popsicle stand. I don't know about you, but I hate the cold. It's why I never let Shibuya freeze, if I can help it. In fact, whatever idiot came up with the idea for this place… might just change their idea about it tomorrow."

Shrugging slightly, and deeming that the previous topic could wait until later (she was at a better place when it came to her dreams, after all; and she had Joshua and his Keyblade talk from last time to thank for that), Rhyme began following Joshua out to where the hot chocolate stand resided.

Keeping in step with him, as he hastily tried to get out of the cold and icy areas, Rhyme almost missed how Beat collided into Neku again (and this fall looked like the worst for both yet). Laughing slightly at the spectacle of it all, Rhyme understood then that her life really was one giant story, or cartoon even. And with the friends, hilarity, light, and laughter such a thing brought her… she wouldn't have had it any other way.

Walking out of the rink with Josh, Rhyme found herself muttering, "Did you notice that the pocket of ice Beat fell on was almost shaped like a Tin Pin? That's what he gets for trying to play it when he's skating! And before you ask, no. I am not going to talk about that sort of 'ball' with you now, or ever again."

The sound of Joshua's laughter at that was music to Rhyme's ear. And she could only hope and pray that Shibuya and Joshua's own Music were all getting better for him. _Joshua_… _My Joshua_.

**Author's Note: That one line of Joshua's towards the end was so inspired by, "It's not cold enough in Shibuya for there to be ice." Or whatever line it was Beat said in TWEWY. Did any of you notice that?**

**And sorry that Eri was "sick" in this chapter, but honestly, if I had every member of the Hachiko group in the chapters they hang out… well, it wouldn't be realistic. Umm…**

**Also, this chapter is for "RANDOM PERSON", who requested that Joshua and Rhyme play KH together. Obviously I couldn't do that completely, as it would break the fourth wall, but hopefully this somewhat did the trick?**

**And yay for me getting more prompt suggestions from people done! :D :D :D**

**Oh. The title of this is inspired by a video… well, a music video on YT people made fun of before (I don't mean to make fun of it here, though): "Chocolate Rain". I called this chapter that, because Rhyme thought of that one quote and the pocky memory, and also because they were playing games where things "rained" in here. Like that one Facebook game (which is, in fact, a real game). Anyway…**

**So you all know: this chapter is one of the last in the timeline. It's them at their best together, before it all goes to hell. Though they haven't slept together here yet. Yeah… I don't know if you guys can tell, but there have definitely been chapters in this where Joshua and Rhyme have been together like that in the past, even if I don't say it. Nor will I. Mainly because: I know some people don't like gushy romance, it's not relevant to the story, and this is rated T, but… I just thought I'd tell you guys this, since it might clear up some of their interactions together in certain chapters…**

**I also must apologize for all the sexual talk in this! But c'mon! You can hardly blame me! It IS Josh. Remember Another Day? "So you told him to 'do you like this'?" Enough said. And with what they were discussing, different games that involved balls… Yeah, the subject was just asking for it. I apologize. –bows- **

**But hey! At least we have a light, funny chapter where they're really comfortable around each other, right? **

**And man did this story and the dialogue come to me easily! I was supposed to be sleeping the other night, but instead I got Joshyme ideas for this. At least that means my Joshyme inspiration (and love) is back, I guess. Hehehe.**

**And sorry if I referenced stuff you guys don't know. But you all really should watch Tenchi Muyo and Tenchi Universe, if you haven't. Those are classic animes! And Josh is Ryoko-ish, and it just worked so well for this chapter. Things like Pullea Magi Madoka Magica are also amazing. (Which has nothing to do with this story, but I don't care.)**

**Btw, I mean no disrespect towards the "Interactive Republic City Game" on Nick's website. But I was SO bad at the water-bending part of it (if I remember correctly, that it), but that's my bad. Not there's. And apparently Josh is the creator/lord of that game and KHII… Yep. Joshua is god. LOL. **

**Oh! And the Aqua "jangle" thing is a reference to the HILARIOUS BbS parody fic: "As I Remember It" by Varanus. Basically? Whenever someone's going to curse in that story, it's cut off by Aqua "jangling" the swear jar. Just read it. You won't regret it, I promise! And apparently Rhyme and them have met Aqua in this chapter… go figure.**

…**You know, I feel like there might have been something else I wanted to talk about, but I don't remember what it is at the moment. Maybe I'll think of it later?**

**Anyway, review please, lovelies. And thanks a bunch in advance:)**

**Rejoice in the happy Joshyme I wrote here! Rejoice! Okay, I'm done…**


	20. October and April

**Author's Note: Warning. This might be my darkest and most intense chapter so far, seeing as how Joshua's back-story is finally being brought to light here. To that end, Iinstruct you to read with caution. Though I don't think this deserves more than a "T" rating, well…**

**Also, I feel like I should set up what's happening here. Basically, Joshua and the gang (Mr. H, his Reapers, Rhyme, Neku, etc.) are forced to go a "Composer's gala" that Joshua really didn't want to go to for obvious reasons (there's an underlying threat there), and so… he's in a very bad state in this chapter. **

**Most of all, however, it's because he and Rhyme have had a previous falling out through Neku (you'll see). Add that to the fact Rhyme is all on the defensive with him, and forcing him to recall the past he'd buried down deep… and you can sort of understand why Joshua's acting the way he is.**

**Anyway, away we go:**

**October and April**

As Rhyme looked about the dancing fools around her, she had a bit of resentment in her eyes. It wasn't only because they looked so much more natural in their formal wear than she, but because they were somehow much more freer than she felt at the moment.

After all, though everyone in attendance had been escorted to the ballroom via Composers and Conductors, not all of them had just come from a fight with the vicious Yoshiya Kiryu.

"Josh," Rhyme snarled angrily, when she noted Joshua's grip on her arm, and desperately tried to pull away from him. "Let me go. I don't want to talk to you right now. Not after you _convinced Neku to_-" In truth, Rhyme had to admit that looked very dashing this night, but that was a big part of the problem, wasn't it? She… she couldn't trust herself around him, and she knew her was planning something. Joshua simply didn't listen to other Composers' beck and call, and so-

As it was, Rhyme was brought up short, when Joshua twirled her around, and was straight-faced for once when he remarked, "I'm not going to look all doe-eyed, or try to play off what I did, Rhyme. Dear Neku may be my Proxy, but I promised him he'd never have to play the Game again, didn't I? But if Neku was smart enough to realize I'm manipulating him again, then this wouldn't be an iss-"

As Joshua leaned towards Rhyme seductively, but only to whisper his callous words in her ear, Rhyme was very close to digging her heel into his foot as painfully as she could, but the moment he flipped a strand of hair from his face, only to put a hand on his cheek and smirk at her, the youngest Bito thought better of it.

No, that wasn't the best way to go about things. Joshua was too volatile right now, and she certainly could have done without him dropping bikes on her head (something she knew he'd do, if things escalated between them). So then, what could she-

"You wanted to dance, Rhyme, so let's dance. Hear my incredible tragic tale, why don't you?" Joshua's breath was hot on Rhyme's neck with his words, and it…it sent gooseflesh prickling up her skin? Mortified, Rhyme tried to remind herself that she was enraged with Joshua, and therefore shouldn't have been letting him affect her in such a way at all, but-

There was something off about him tonight. And as mad as she might have been at him, Rhyme couldn't help her usual desire to help him. It was just who she was, but also- she had the strangest feeling that if she didn't help him now, things would change forever. Furthermore, Rhyme knew she was very close to losing the real Joshua she'd slowly but surely been unlocking—the Joshua buried miles deep beneath his façade—forever.

Trying to keep up an air of mild disinterest, Rhyme snaked her arm behind Joshua, and picked up a glass of punch from a waiter who had just walked by. Downing the orange, Hawaiian punch in a huge swallow, Rhyme tried to focus on the tingly and burning sensation going on in her throat, and not at the raised eyebrow Joshua was looking at her with.

As a small bout of insanity invaded her consciousness, Rhyme thought very heavily about punching Joshua exactly where he was losing his eyebrow under her hairline. In the end, though, it was the image of Beat sitting by the glasses like a bull in a china cabinet (in more ways than one, as they were surrounded by very dangerous people who could cut over to Beat very, very easily) that led Rhyme to keep her calm, and face Joshua coolly.

She couldn't afford any emotional exploits tonight. Especially with so many people watching. _Especially_ with one of the people being the too-emotional-Neku, and his girlfriend, Shiki. Who knew? Maybe if Rhyme was relaxed enough, she could remind Neku to not let Joshua control his emotion-

"You look lovely tonight, Rhyme," Joshua said with a strange venom in his voice that instantly had Rhyme wanting to recoil from the boy. Seeming to use her momentary shock to his advantage, Josh spun Rhyme out of his arms, but only to pull her back so they could continue dancing more.

Staring at the boy in wonderment for his actions, Rhyme found herself wondering what was worse: dancing with Joshua like this, after- Or having him finally tell her the horror story of his life. The story she'd always wanted to know before, but now- "Joshua, I-"

"I find you're a lot more eloquent when you're not daydreaming, Rhyme. Let me guess: right now you're imagining my breath is warm like a werewolves. But how observant can you really be, if you don't notice the stench of chocolate on my breath?"

Recoiling from Joshua's icy glare as if she'd been struck, Rhyme suddenly found herself falling out of her high heels, and backwards and backwards and backwards. Any second now, and she knew she'd be smacking her head against the concrete below her. But the blow never came. Instead, she found herself being held very loosely at the end of Joshua's arms.

As she swayed this way and that, trying to regain her balance and escape from the Composer's embrace, Rhyme found that she foolishly felt like how Usagi might have in dancing with Mamoru. As Rhyme's hair spun out about her, and she unintentionally mimicked twirling with Joshua in trying to _free_ herself from him, there was no denying that the way he held her now... was fitting of the often cold and aloof Mamoru.

And maybe... maybe Joshua _was_ right about her (whether he was being serious, or not). Maybe she did get lost in the clouds too much. It was positively foolish to even fathom being like Sailor Moon and him Tuxedo Mask. Even if... even if Rhyme had once thought it was their common knowledge of works and philosophies that had brought them together (and inevitably pushed them apart). Yes, his insulting of her dreams was truly painful, wasn't it?

"Right, of course. I forgot you said that once. That- that... you sometimes feel cold, and well… dead, and have to drink hot things 'to warm your Soul.'" Idly, Rhyme wondered if it was a Mocha Latte or hot chocolate that was staining Joshua's breath now. Or, perhaps, maybe he'd just been lying to her, and was actually drinking alcohol. In some ways, Joshua was acting like he could have been drunk, but in others… he was just the same as ever. What had she ever even seen in him?

"What is up with this place?" Rhyme asked suddenly, and without proper thought behind the words, as she felt a headache coming on and put a hand to her head. "Everything's so shiny and clean; it reflects like prisms from the sun. Joshua, I may be dumb to think certain things all the time, but how can you blame me now, when I keep seeing shining orbs all around me?" Rhyme snapped as unkindly as Joshua ever had (though truthfully, she hadn't meant to use a sharp tone; she was just in slight pain and disoriented).

The truth: the lights weren't as blinding to Rhyme as they were misleading. Once again, she was reminded of animes, and the strange colored orbs they'd use to either paint a romantic scene, or just to make something glisten. As Rhyme wondered worriedly if another Composer was perhaps Imprinting on her, she found herself clutching onto Joshua in a way she'd never thought she would again; not after he'd convinced Neku to become a Reaper, anyway.

Pleading with him with tears in her eyes, Rhyme burrowed her face into Joshua's chest, and begged him to tell her what he'd been about to a moment ago. She still didn't want to hear it (what a contrast it was to the way she'd felt so many times before!), but if it kept her sane and in the here and now, it had to be worth it, didn't it? Maybe she'd even find a way to forgive Joshua after it. Maybe...

All around them couples continued to dance and play at mirth. And for the blink of an eye, Rhyme thought she might have seen Joshua looking at her sympathetically, but the look was gone as soon as it came. In their stead, was the cold sounding words she was used to from him. And maybe it was exactly what she deserved, seeing as how she'd come to use similar speech with him lately. If only... if only things were different. If only things _could _be different.

"I suppose it's good, after all, that you're asking me about it so unkindly. Yes, it's even more fun now, seeing as how I get to tell you my story begins with a dog. Not what you expected, is it? But, yes. It begins with something I see very similar to you, Raimu."

Since her face was nestled in Joshua's shirt, so that the dancing couples wouldn't continue to make her dizzy, Rhyme couldn't see what face Joshua was wearing at his words, but she had the strangest feeling that he was using his impassive look. And if so, he'd closed himself off to her completely. It was no more than she deserved for how she was treating him (though she was still furious about the Neku thing), but…

"A-a dog? Well, I do deserve that now, don't I? I haven' t been treating you fairly, Joshua, but how can I when you're letting Neku ruin his life? Anyway, do continue on, I guess." It was almost criminal to Rhyme that she wasn't looking at Joshua, and letting him see just what Neku's fate was doing to her and everyone that cared about him, but as she continued to feel affected by the Composers around her somehow… well, there was simply nothing for it.

However, when Rhyme _did_ look up at him just the slightest bit, she could see how contempt seemed to swirl like eddies in Joshua's lavender eyes. As always, Rhyme found she was about to argue with him for being such a cruel person all the time, but something stopped her when she saw Joshua's eyed becoming haunted in a way she'd never known before.

What hurt Rhyme most of all, though, was seeing the wanton longing in Joshua's eyes. A longing for something that had never been sated, apparently. In fact, Rhyme almost regretted begging Joshua to tell her his story at all, but it seemed there was no stopping her mistake now. Joshua was in another time and place, and Rhyme wasn't oblivious to the tears that dotted his eyes. She'd felt a similar way...once before.

"Like I was saying, this story begins with a dog that I always used to watch over at my neighbor's house, across the street. Even back then I was allergic to canines, but I suppose I felt something about the beast, and... And thus, sometimes for hours on end I would stare at the glass door that separated us, and look at the animal curiously.

"By the way, dear Raimu," Joshua muttered, as he pulled Rhyme out of her imaginings for a moment, and smiled at her in a way that seemed to demand evil and jagged teeth on his part. But Even so… when Joshua pulled her closer to him, as they ducked past dancers here and there, Rhyme couldn't help but lean into him. In truth, Rhyme thought it was probably so she wouldn't smack her head on the dishes waiters were bringing in, but... that wouldn't have been the first time she lied to herself around Joshua, would it have been?

"I lied to you just now. I didn't care for the bitch because I related to her, but rather because I was a masochist who wanted to get sick and die. And in the end, when I met Mr. H, you can imagine I was much the same way. It was only when I did get my wish to die that I wanted to live, and... Well, we'll just leave it that. Now, let's really get this tale underway, shall we?"

Ignoring as Joshua tried to mess with her for whatever reason (as always playing word games), Rhyme found she could all too easily picture the boy Joshua was painting for her—the boy he'd been before—and she was also fairly certain she knew where the whole tale was going. He- he'd never had a chance, had he? And perhaps that was the saddest fact of all.

...

_"Yo boss, ya mind telling me how you mean to pay for all of this?"_

_"Hmm?" Joshua looked up at the Angel, Mr. H, grudgingly, as he scooped some of the blood pudding out onto the pancakes the coffee barista had given him. In truth, the fifteen-year-old hadn't come to WildKat for the pancakes at all (though he'd heard from many of the locals that the flapjacks were the only thing Sanae Hanekoma could make right). What he'd really been intrigued in had been the man with wings he'd caught glimpses of many a time. The question, though, was how to approach such a topic delicately. Perhaps he could begin by some small talk? Yes, that seemed right enough to Joshua. This man did seem to reek of do-gooder, after all. _

_Putting a bit of the non-waffle onto his fork to flick at Mr. Hankekoma, Joshua meant to observe if the man was as easy-going as he let on, or if he might slip and show off some of his superior reflexes. Almost bored, however, Joshua spoke to Mr. H as though he_ hadn't _just attacked him with fried batter. "My mother doesn't believe me when I tell her the man across the way from us bought a house whilst dead. She thinks I should be a comedian, I'm afraid. Or that if I'm going to place blood on people's hands, I might as well use my own. Would you believe she told me to bleed for my own blood pudding? The humanity, I tell you." _

_In truth, Joshua wasn't sure what response he'd get from this Sanae Hanekoma, if his own mother had said such foul things to him. Not that his father was any better, of course. When Joshua had told him about the things he saw, he had bent Joshua's arm at a weird angle before he'd thrown wrinkled cash at him. And When Joshua had asked about it later, the stupid man had said he'd been annoyed at the way Joshua kept his money, but Joshua had known right away what it had really been: his father had punished him for "telling lies", and then had paid him off so he'd never do such things again. _

_Well, Joshua didn't need to be told twice. He didn't have a drop of sympathy for the evil bastards he called his parents, and thus he hadn't even bothered telling them when they moved onto a Layline: a Layline that seemed to draw in Dog Noise, for a reason Joshua had been yet to figure out_. _He would, though, Joshua swore to himself, as he downed his coffee in one gulp. And if this man helped him or not, it still wouldn't be an issue. Joshua would learn his answer somehow and someway and go from there. He was tired of always having his parents be on the fence about their love for him. Really, he was just tired of everything, so then maybe- maybe the UG was just where he belonged._

_"If you want to talk about the Game, you can just say it, kid. But I dunno who else I'd say such things to. 'Sides. You should keep your chin up. Your parents are jerks on their best days, but I can tell they really care about you. That's nothing to bat an eyelash at, Kid."_

_What Joshua didn't tell Mr. H was that when your mother wished you dead on a church day… there was no denying she really meant it. His parents may have given things to Joshua out of duty, and the need for an heir, but Joshua knew they didn't really love him. _

_After all, Joshua had tasted such love when a Cat Noise (also at his neighbor's house once) had licked his face kindly. Even Noise knew him better than his parents, it seemed._ _For even though they gave him everything his little heart desired, they had the maids pick the things out for him. Joshua was learning more everyday how little his parents knew or cared about him, and he was beginning to care about it less and less. Since he already felt dead anyway, why shouldn't he just go the extra mile? It wasn't as though he had anything to live for, anyway. It was beginning to seem to Joshua that he truly belonged in the UG, however… Joshua had the strangest inclination that his neighbor wasn't going to let such a thing happen. _

_So, stepping out of WildKat (upon giving Sanae a recipe for a cherry blend, to keep him from stopping him when the time came), Joshua was well out the door, and into the busy streets of Shibuya, when it suddenly dawned on him: _

_Mr. H was CAT (something Joshua had realized a long time ago), and since he was an Angel, who knew what sort of powers he had? Couldn't he very easily have been the "Cat Noise" that Joshua had met earlier? And if that was the case, then who controlled the peculiar "Dog Noise" at his neighbor's? _

_"It's Sanae's former Partner, isn't it?" Joshua asked to himself, even though he was miles away from where the thing actually was. And even without receiving any sort of answer or acknowledgement to his question at all (something Joshua was much too accustom with at this point), he knew he'd probably stumbled upon the right answer._

...

As all of their swaying finally began wreaking havoc on her nervous system (or perhaps it was Joshua's story), Rhyme thought she very well might gag on the spot if they didn't stop moving. Already, Rhyme's hair was falling down, and most likely sticking to the sweat on her forehead.

And though Rhyme was very hot and tired, she knew she couldn't dream of leaving the discussion now. And as Rhyme felt sick to her very core at his parents' actions, she suddenly found she couldn't completely blame Neku for seeking companionship in Neku. As a feeling Rhyme had never known before began enveloping her (something she couldn't even name properly), she also found there was no denying that Joshua was telling her the whole truth for once. He seemed more into the story than even she was, and-

_He's looking to the answer to all of this himself. He's looking for something he must have missed before; the answer he couldn't see, _Rhyme realized as she forced her discomfort down her throat, and told herself to stop being a baby, and be there for Joshua. Trying to piece things together herself, Rhyme meant to grasp at the straws Joshua himself was latching onto, but in truth, she couldn't understand any of it.

_Maybe I am as foolish as Joshua sometimes lets on_, Rhyme thought reluctantly to herself. "Josh, I don't understand," Rhyme muttered as she shook even more of her hair down, so it lay limply on her face, but only served in making her more feverish, and obstructing Joshua's face from her view. "Was the dog... was it some sort of trick by an Angel? Sanae's ex-Partner?" _And did your parents really do all of that to you_? Was what Rhyme really wanted to ask, but knew she couldn't bare here the truth of it.

"Do you know how you become Composer of two places, Rhyme?" Joshua asked suddenly, as he began shaking Rhyme's shoulders with tears in his eyes. As she staggered backwards somewhat, Rhyme could see out of her peripheral vision that Neku was looking at her worriedly, so perhaps she was going to be able to save Neku after all now… but as she felt her own tears beginning to dot her eyes, and felt her brain rattling in her head, Rhyme wasn't at all sure of what she wanted anymore, and so she sank to the ground somewhat and began to sob.

"You defeat Composers of two cities on the line that dissects them. My tragic story heralds that fact, and I ask you now, who would know such a thing but the Angels? And who else would know but the parents who I suppose might have 'listened to me', after all?"

…

_Joshua had been graceful for as long as he could remember. He'd been able to move lithely, and even things like heights had never stood in his way. As always though, either his parents had been too worried about what others would think, and wouldn't let him climb at all, or… he'd simply disobey them in secret. It was the latter's occasion now, and as Joshua sat with his legs dangling over his father's own office building, he could think of no other place to end his life. As he placed a gun to his head, preparing to pull the trigger, Joshua noticed with certain clarity that the sunset was painting him white, as if he were a Composer or Angel already. It was a sign, it had to be, and so-_

"_Yoshiya, what are you doing?!" So startled by the sudden voice of his mother on the roof with him, Joshua almost let loose the bullet—and dropped the gun—all in the same_ _heartbeat. Turning to his mother, Rei in a bout of shock, Joshua was about to ask just what his mother was doing on the building (seeing as how she was afraid of heights), but was stopped from speaking when he suddenly found himself enveloped in the blond woman's arms. _

_Gasping slightly at the contact, Joshua found all he was capable of doing was listening in shock, as she explained, "Oh, Yoshiya, dear! You mustn't do something like this again! Your father and I are working out all of our problems, and we must with you, too. Say you'll come home. Just say you will."_

_As Joshua sat there absorbing and listening to the love radiating from his mother, he found all he was capable of doing was nodding his head at the proper times, and shifting away from the edge of the building so they didn't both topple over_. _Surprising even himself, Joshua found that he was spilling his heart out, too, and explaining how he loved his mother and father, so he'd of course never do anything to hurt them in such a way_. _And the funny thing was Joshua hadn't even known he had cared, until the words seemed to leave his mouth of their own accord. _

_It was in a similar trance and mindset that Joshua walked with his mom out of the building hand-in-hand—not even caring who saw—and towards the family car, where… his father was driving it? _

_Rubbing his eyes tiredly, and wondering if the whole thing might have been a dream, Joshua noted that his father even seemed to be wearing the chauffeur's cap, and wasted no time in putting it on his son's head. Pressing the hat down even more snugly against his head, Joshua felt tears streaming down his eyes, as he looked at his dad in mirth. Usually, he would have gotten mad if Joshua dressed like a simpleton, but now…_

"_I have to say I'm pleased to see you interested in the family business, son. But try keeping your love for it during day time hours, eh?" Sousuke quipped (which Joshua was nearly certain he'd never done before), as he straightened Joshua's hat and kissed him on the crown of his head_. _It was only then that his father seemed to notice the gun glistening in Joshua's hands. Following his father's line of vision to the pistol he was carrying, Joshua was about to stammer out apologies, but stopped himself when his father fitted it more firmly in his hand. "There comes a time when every man has to fight and defend himself, so if you mean to protect yourself now, I won't question you, but please don't use this to hurt yourself, okay?"_

_And seeing as how he and his father were on the same wavelength for the first time in his life, Joshua thought he would never again be as happy as he was in that moment. Hugging his father tightly then, the three family members began sharing idle chitchat and pleasantries with each other, as they piled into the car to go home._

_As Joshua sat in the front seat, sandwiched between his mom and dad, he questioned why he'd ever doubted them_. _Why had he ever wanted the UG more than his father's company?_ _Why had they never done this before? It all made no sense to Joshua (though_ _he couldn't have cared less at the moment)._

_But unfortunately, like it happens for many people in life, Joshua's best day would be short lived, and it would come crashing down in one of the cruelest ways possible. Yes, as he was piling in, he really should have noticed that the "Dog Noise" was gone from his neighbor's home._

_Walking into his house with his mother and father in tow, Joshua didn't even notice that there was something amiss in the form of something evil and massive reclining in his living room. Instead, making a beeline for the kitchen, Joshua regarded his parents with a smile when saying, "I'm going to make us some green tea. I think we have enough tea times to make up for to last us a lifetim- Huh!" _

_In the end, Joshua would remember he'd cocked his gun just before the large dog pinned him to the wall, and began tearing at his flesh. Looking at his mother and father hurriedly, as he couldn't even move his arm to lift the damn gun, Joshua beckoned them to be able to see what he was. If he was right about the thing not being a Noise, after all, then they should have been able to help him escape. _

"_Mom! Dad!" Joshua exclaimed, just as he moved his face away from the beast's snapping jaw. "You have to help me! I think this thing is using telekinesis to keep me here. It's not tall enough to reach as far as it is, so- Mom? Dad?"_

_To this day, Joshua still couldn't recount what exactly he was thinking and feeling when his parents raised their own guns at him. He was sure he must have felt a mix of horror, anguish, and betrayal, but he could never recall exactly what it was, because… that was the moment he began hiding behind his façade (and he'd never been more successful with it then in that moment). _

_And though Joshua wished to remember the look on the faces of those who'd given birth to him, only to try and kill him, he instead remembered the orange-ish red cat that pulled him from the wall, and began flying off with him._

_Blinking confusedly at the creature below him, as they flew into the dark night, Joshua thought that there was a certain aloofness to the creature; an aloofness that screamed only of Mr. Hanekoma._ _Placing his hands exactly where Sanae's glasses would have been were he human, there was instantly a blinding light, and Joshua's theory was indeed proven right. _

"_Damnit, kid!" Mr. H began saying even before Joshua had planned to ask him what the hell was going on. "I've done a poor piss job of keeping you safe, and you were right to an extent. Wysu __sure as hell might not be an Angel, but he's learned how to recode his own Soul, and thus he's gotten some Angelic powers. Being able to use his Noise-form like that, and keep an eye on you the way he was, should have been something only we can do."_

"_I don't understand!" Joshua snarled, suddenly furious at the man who'd just helped him, as the memories he was desperately trying to repress slammed into him like a wrecking ball. Then, regarding Sanae with a cool air that seemed to be his new armor, as well as something that suited him to a tee, Joshua pulled out the gun he'd managed to hold onto during the messy escape and aimed it at Mr. H's jugular. "No more lies! This all could have been avoided if you told me the truth from the beginning. What does he want with me? What-"_

"_Joshua, wait! No! You don't know what you're about to do!" As if. Joshua had always known what he was doing, and now even more so that he'd learned to shut his emotions off. Jumping away from the safety that was Sanae Hanekoma, Joshua ducked into a tuck-roll, as he purposefully crashed through the glass he'd been stupidly fascinated with for far too long. He_ knew _that Wysu (in Noise-form or not) was somewhere in his god-forsaken house, and though Joshua didn't know just what he wanted anymore (to get revenge, become Composer, get away from everyone, or what), Joshua was aware of one thing. Wysu was going to die today! _

_Though Joshua hadn't let Sanae fill in the blanks for him, Joshua understood with a certain foreboding just what was going on here, and maybe he'd always known, but- _

_Anyway, stupid Wysu was still human. That was clear from how Mr. H had said he shouldn't have had a Noise form. Even so… the man had somehow managed becoming Composer of Minato. After all, the line Wysu's house was on wasn't just a Layline at all, was it? It was the line that divided Shibuya from Minato. If he played his cards right, Wysu would become the Composer of both areas, meaning that the Composer of Shibuya must have just been Erased, and…_

_Speaking of death, it would be when Joshua was thinking about the former Composer's death, that he'd happen upon the decapitated forms of his parents in Wysu's manor. Stepping over them gingerly, and not allowing himself to think about how they were probably playing the Game now, like Joshua himself should have been ( Seriously. Why hadn't he just killed himself before his parents had given him the ultimate betrayal?!), Joshua finally found Wysu; he was standing in front of the fish tank in the game room, the fish tank that was leaking water on his parents' dead forms._

_Though Joshua was well aware that the whole thing was undoubtedly a trap, and that he was being as reckless as Sanae had hinted he would be, Joshua found himself biting into his lip so sharply via his anger, that blood spilled down his chin in torrents; he was fighting so hard against what he wanted to say, but really, what was the point of it all? _

_Letting out the pain in his heart that he'd always hidden (even from himself) Joshua soon found he was screaming louder than he ever had in his life. "WHY?!" Joshua asked, as he ran faster than he ever had or had even wanted to, and fired a bullet and the big-boned, German man's head. _

_Unfortunately, Joshua missed Wysu's head just so, but he had grazed the man's arm. As blood spilled on the floor, like the blood littering it from his own parents' bodies, Joshua realized it was only a matter of time before the man began using his Psychs again, and killed and Erased him, but honestly…he couldn't have cared less. His life had been a nightmare, anyway. Maybe death and Erasure would be a welcomed relief, even, but first: he had to know. He just had to! _

"_What did you want with me?!" Joshua hissed, as he gnashed his teeth together, and shook the pistol in Wysu's face. "What did you promise THEM?! Why did you kill them when I finally could have talked to them about the Game?! Why?! Tell me!" As he sunk to the ground in despair, and saw even more blood diluting in the spilled water, Joshua suddenly realized it wasn't tears streaming down his cheeks, but his own blood he was creating, by digging his nails into his face. _

_Wasn't that funny? Joshua'd thought about hurting himself before, when his parents were being cruel or ignorant to him, but he'd never done so before. It was almost perfect that he was doing so now, though, when his parents had died after betraying him, and everything was falling apart. It was bookends, even._

_And so when Wysu lifted him up with telekinesis again, preparing to end him, Joshua couldn't even find it in him to feel anything anymore. It was good riddance to a terrible life, wasn't it? But then again… there he was reflected in the white of Wysu's eyed. White again… With a sharp intake of breath, Joshua understood exactly what he had to do now. He couldn't win against this man's Psychs, but-_

"_Because you're the Angels' choice for Composer, pretty boy. They want you to rule both places, and I couldn't have a little fifteen-year-old showing me up, could I? So now you die. And rest assured, when you enter_ my _Game I'll kill you just as fast."_

_After Wysu's_ oh so _moving speech, and show of ambition, Joshua wasn't sure what happened first. Sanae's shouting of his name, or Joshua firing a bullet at the mirror behind Wysu's head, so that the shards shot forward and slit his throat. In no time at all, it seemed that Wysu was dead, and though Joshua had avenged his parents by killing Wysu in a similar way to how his own parents had been murdered… he just felt empty inside._

_And when a show of Light seemed to take him over, and turn him into what he assumed was his Composer form, Joshua found he only felt drained, but there was something else now, too. The hum of Shibuya—and Minato's—Music in the back of his head. Truly feeling something for the first time he could remember in the longest time, and witnessing true beauty, Joshua knew that he would spend his life trying to keep Shibuya's Music lovelier than his own had ever been. That, at least, he could do. And that could give him purpose._

"_I'm sorry about all of this, J. It's too much to have asked of a kid. The moment the Angels saw Sayaka Erasing herself without naming a successor for Shibuya, I'd meant to- I just wish I coulda done somethin' to help you, boss. And I never thought this bastard would get to your folk-"_

"_Do you want to help me?" Joshua asked the Angel before him, with a strange mix of humor and soft spoknen-ess to his voice, that he'd never known before (but, perhaps, it did make sense, seeing as how foresight was prickling at the back of Joshua's mind, and he saw just how close he and the Angel would be someday.)_ _"Then find someone else to be Composer of Minato. I'll willingly give my powers to him. And make sure when Wysu wins the Game in Minato, and joins another UG… make sure that when_ _he _does _become Composer of a new area_, _that he's_ far_ away from here. And make sure… make sure that when my parents play _my _Game, that they win. I plan to let the Conductor handle this round without me… I never want to see or hear from my parents again."_

"_That I can do, J. That I can do. And in time, I can even become the father you never had. The father you_ should _have had."_ _As Sanae lay a reassuring hand on the new Composer's shoulder, and began running soothing patterns on his back, Joshua found himself smiling just the slightest bit, but for the most part, he remembered leaning into the Angel's embrace, and sobbing. _

_Then, slowly but deliberately, Joshua pulled his gun on himself; amidst Sanae's shouts of protest, Joshua shot himself in the heart, and truly became an animated corpse; he would never bother with human emotions again._

…

"So there you have it, Rhyme," Joshua muttered with a certain kindness and lightness to his voice, that he hadn't awarded Rhyme the entire night. Once again, though she knew he was mocking her and the whole situation that was his life; she also knew there was something else behind it. Boy did she know now. And though Rhyme knew she wasn't wrong for hating his obsession with Neku, she did wish she'd tried to see it all from his side just a bit more.

"There's my lovely back story you've been asking for. Isn't it wonderful? Doesn't it just make you want to get involved with me?"

"Joshua, I-"

"Save your pity and false promises, Raimu Bito. I don't need them, nor you. Nor do I even need you alive." And just like that, Joshua left Rhyme on the dance floor (in the wolf's den), as if they'd just simply talked about the weather.

And though Rhyme had wanted to get away from Joshua all night, she now found herself wishing he were still holding her. Because even though he tried to push her away, and say he didn't need her, Rhyme knew that was exactly _why _she had to keep pursuing him. His threats were as empty as he was, and-

"I'll never stop trying for you, Joshua, because I understand more than you know. I know that you lose yourself in the UG—and your own fantasies, too—because you don't know how to deal with the torment in your head. And I also know you nicknamed me 'Ringo', because you think I'm a dog who will hurt you like Wysu did. Me, and everyone else in the world. But I _do_ understand you, Josh. And I accept you. And so I'm not so foolish after all, am I?"

**Author's Note: So though I do have a lot to say about this chapter, I don't think I'm going to. It might lessen the effect of this that way.**

**Though honestly, I don't know if I should have even posted this chapter yet. It explains and sets up a LOT. So yeah. Doesn't everything make so much more sense now? Poor, poor Joshua:( Seriously. I think I've given him the most tragic back-story out of anyone ever.**

**Also, I think this takes place right after "Fanning", and probably right before the "Grass Stain" chapter. So basically: right before they're a couple. I feel like Rhyme needed to know all of this before they got together, and this also explains why she's able to empathize with him, and put up with a lot of his crap, so yeah.**


	21. Wonderwall

**Wonderwall**

_"I... I don't know how to act around you anymore, Rhyme. A truly devastating occurrence for you, I'm sure, but I'm afraid my __modus operandi__has been shot to hell when it comes to you." _

It was truly a beautiful day in Miyashita Park. Or, at least, Joshua surmised it probably seemed that way to all of the denizens of his city. As spring was coming into bloom, it seemed as though every element that made up the world was blossoming. The sun peaked out from behind the clouds just so, the few remaining ice embankments melted into the crystalline man-made lake that had been implemented, squirrels preened their tails back proudly, as they no longer had to use them for an umbrella...

Yes, it truly was a remarkable day, but even on a day like this—when everything was becoming more alive or evolving—Joshua found the words he wanted to say to the youngest Bito were dying on his lips. He wondered if he'd ever have the courage to put his heart out on the line and speak truthfully... probably not.

"Anyway," Rhyme deadpanned, as she popped her last syllable in a way that was very much like Eri, "I... I couldn't do it. Not knowing that whenever I moved my feet I'd destroy his happiness more and more. I mean, I did that enough by stepping on said uncle's feet as a kid! I couldn't dream of accidentally giving his beautiful flower garden the same treatment."

In truth, Joshua wasn't really listening to a word Rhyme was saying. For the most part, he thought he had the gist of it, but as she balanced expertly on the edge of the railing she was traipsing on, Joshua couldn't help but let his thoughts wonder; had she... had she learned her cat like reflexes from skateboarding with her brother, or because of his own interference? Joshua was inclined to think it was the ladder, and that was worrying for many a reason.

"Hmmm," Joshua remarked noncommittally to Rhyme's words, but only because he knew he was expected to say something, rather than he actually had something to say. "Though I think it absolutely ludicrous you'd hate on yourself for tromping on your uncle's feet when you were a toddler, I do have to admit the entire thing is a riot. So even then, it seems, you had an affinity for humor, Raimu."

Smiling the ghost of a smile, as the truth of his words reached him, Joshua did have to admit he found the idea of a young, trouble-making Rhyme to be very, very amusing. Though if he had to guess, she'd only caused issues for the grown ups by accident (as even a child, Rhyme had undoubtedly been too selfless for her own good), it was such a contrast to her current self that it was unintentionally hilarious. Leave it to his dear Raimu to get so bent out of shape about such things, Joshua supposed.

"No, Joshua. You're missing the whole point! I'm not as good as you think I am! I felt bad for that stuff, because I _deserved_ to be guilty! Especially for eating off of—stealing food from—my uncle's plate, and-"

Aaaaaand just like that Joshua was in hysterics. Somewhere along their pacing of Miyashita Park, they'd reached the end of it and were doubling back, but perhaps more accurately: the Composer of Shibuya was currently "doubling" over in laughter. Wiping the tears from his eyes in mirth, Joshua couldn't remember the last time he'd laughed so hard in his life. He'd known that Rhyme sometimes did comedy routines with Beat, but he had no idea she was this brilliant.

Though, then again, he didn't think she was intentionally trying to be funny. And actually, now that he thought about it, it seemed as though Rhyme was plotting something (since when had they switched places in that department?), but as he had been having a terrible day before, Joshua thought he could probably reside in the light that was Rhyme for just a bit longer. And who knew... maybe that had been her intent all along.

"Joshua?" Rhyme asked tentatively, as she behaved very much like the image of the nervous child she was painting in Joshua's head. Reaching out to touch his shoulder gently, and the way she cocked her head to the side and regarded him with a curious expression, definitely made Joshua think Rhyme was the epitome of cute. In fact, it almost made Joshua want to switch gears from thinking of her funniness entirely, and to instead think only of her cuteness. Almost.

Through the way the newly pink sky was painting Rhyme in a romantic light, Joshua was surprised to find that _passion_ was suddenly taking the reigns of his thoughts about her. Liking a little too much how she'd jumped from the railing upon noticing the change in his emotions, Joshua found himself wondering how he'd ever denied his connection to her and just all she meant to him before. Surely it was clear by just how attuned they were to each other that she was meant to be his Partner.

And when Rhyme leaned her face towards his just so—so that the pins in her hair brushed against his forehead, reminding him of her cute mantra to pin things to your forehead so you wouldn't forget them—Joshua found he'd never wanted to make love to Rhyme more in his life.

And when he smiled one of his most devilish smirks at her, before pulling her to the ground atop him, he told her just that, as he dusted his hands over the big mole she'd obtained on her cheek, and left a few well-placed kisses to her neck. "I know I, of all people," Joshua got out between love bites, and between Rhyme's tousling her hair to the side just a bit, undoubtedly to hide her flaming face, "am the last person you'd trust on this, Rhyme, but here me out, okay? I swear I'm not trying anything or being cute, but..."

For a moment, as Joshua gently cradled Rhyme's head in his hand, he was hit with an odd memory of how when he'd been young, his mom had given him a baby doll to take care of, hoping it would make him more likely to want kids in the future (so as to carry on the family name). And though Joshua's mother no longer had any purpose or claim to his life at all, Joshua did recall that he'd exerted more gentleness with that doll than anything he had at all as a child.

Looking at Rhyme laying beneath him, with concerns lapping in her eyes like waves, Joshua knew he'd have to be just as careful with Rhyme too, wouldn't he? After all, he was learning she had scars from the past, too, and though he _would_ tease her forever... he also knew he would guide her from her insecurities with his every waking breath, and be proud for it. "You just made me realize how and why one makes love, Rhyme. Before, I always thought it was _some_ sort of act of passion, but now... I just want to embrace you for giving me the happiness you do, and I can't see it being fueled by anything _but _adoration now."

Choosing for once to go into something without over thinking it, Joshua quickly switched himself and Rhyme over to the UG (idly, he wondered if Rhyme noticed, as it wasn't the first time he'd switched Planes with her), and decided to love Rhyme the way he needed to, but more importantly: the way she deserved.

Joshua still could remember too keenly (and it was a torturous stabbing to his heart whenever he did think about it) how it had felt to watch Rhyme freeze to death because of his enemies. Joshua also remembered, ashamedly, that it had only been then—when Rhyme was gone to delirium or death, or both—that he'd told her just what she meant to him.

And though Joshua had no such intention of letting herself doubt his feelings for her now… he also knew he'd have to tread carefully. After all, though Yoshiya very much wanted to tell Rhyme how much he loved her _now_, he knew that his old self would've never dreamed of it, and so, Rhyme probably had never thought to hear it, either. He needed to be cautious; he would _not _put Rhyme in danger again. Not only was she in danger from Wysu, but also from the Angels, whom Joshua knew were going to come and viciously rip his wings off eventually. He had to keep Rhyme away from both parties. He simply had to.

"Joshua," Rhyme's voice suddenly rang out so clearly in Joshua's head, he couldn't help but think of how it fit her namesake, and the pendant she wore about her neck. Clutching to her the way one would an anchor, the ashen haired boy suddenly realized he'd gone much further with Rhyme than he'd meant to. How and when he'd gotten his and her shirt off he didn't know, but it was suddenly becoming very clear to Joshua that he couldn't take Rhyme in such a way. They might have been in the UG and in a beautiful park, but it was still uncivilized. Rhyme deserved much better than that. She also deserved for him to be there mentally when they-

"I'm sorry, Rhyme," Joshua muttered quickly, as he pulled himself up and away from his girlfriend, fighting back another thing of lust, as he watched the white-blue stars make the purpling sky a tad bit more violet. Ugh. How was it that despite his earlier words to the contrary, their near coupling had almost ended up being driven by lust, after all? That and sheer madness on his part. He was-

"No, Josh," Rhyme muttered, as she averted her eyes adorably, and put her shirt back on over her jean-patterned bra (much to Joshua's disappointment). "I shouldn't have let things go so far, either. You're not yourself. I tried to distract you from the thoughts plaguing you, by showing you you're not the only one who has things to dwell on, but I failed. I'm sorry. Anyway, why don't you say we go do something fun?"

Smiling either for Rhyme's poor choice of words, the fact she was dangling her keys from her fingers, or for the fact she was unable to find her damned beanie, Joshua followed Rhyme merrily to her place of employment.

It was only when they got to the laser tag place (having dodged all traffic beforehand) that Josh remembered to let them out of the UG, and that he was supposed to be wallowing. With a smirk, he thought he could easily forgive himself for not doing the last one. And Rhyme… she really was his Wonderwall, wasn't she?

...

"Dearest Rhyme, if I were you, I wouldn't fret about your uncle so much. His thoughts are uninspired, anyway, and-"

"Yeah, but that was a different uncle. And it _was _my fault that I looked like a fool; I'd stopped the newspaper from falling, and was all 'ninja like', as my uncle said. Then, showing off and a bit embarrassed... well, you know the story. I twirled my key rings on my fingers, but accidentally threw them behind the couch. Thus losing my 'ninja status,' from his point of view. By the way, could you read my thoughts back then?"

Though Joshua could detect all too easily that Rhyme was, once again, trying to dissuade him with pointless talk of her uncle, and her own "mistakes", he could sense the real curiosity brimming within her at the last question. It seemed as though Rhyme was always going to be self-conscious about the thoughts he might have heard in the past. And if they didn't find her hat soon (they'd had to tell the park's lost and found that it was missing), Joshua surmised she'd be a hot mess from now on. It _had_ housed her Player Pin, after all.

"Why do you think I know this story so well, and later chose to bring your adorkableness back to life, dear?" Joshua asked with a wry smile on his face, as he looked at Rhyme with a raised eyebrow, and pondered if she knew he was lying or not. Usually Rhyme had a knack for knowing him too well, but with fears of him having previously invaded on her thoughts before… Really, he was just asking to be smacked, Joshua supposed. But he was nothing if not a masochist still. Despite everything, that remained true. For better… or for worse.

"Mmm," was Rhyme's unintelligent response to Joshua's words, as she leaned closer to him atop his lap, and nuzzled her head into the crook of his neck. As Joshua had always liked quirky, and affectionate cats that did such things, he supposed he didn't mind Rhyme's action _too_ much. The chokehold her arms had formed around his neck might have been a different story entirely, though.

Though the two had come to Rhyme's workplace to play laser tag (and were even dawning the special purple outfits that weren't in circulation for regular customers for whatever reason), the couple had ended up taking to the game room more than anything. And as Joshua did thoroughly enjoy the racing game he was currently stationed at, he almost wanted Rhyme to straddle him, just so he might see if he could drive like James Bond had in a similar situation, but he was quick to think better of it.

In truth, he wasn't sure he could handle Rhyme's legs around him at all. And with where they _currently_ were, and the threat of Beat finding out and pummeling him... Well, Josh thought maybe he should wise up and find a reason to _not_ test his "pure happy sex" theory again.

God, the fact they were in her work place was also kinky as hell, though. And Joshua knew that in the other Shibuyas, where he _wasn't_ in shock from having formerly lost Rhyme, that he would've been-

"Josh..."

"Hmm?"

"I want you to bake me."

"Who are you and what have you done with Rhyme?" Joshua spluttered, as he very nearly knocked Rhyme off his lap, which of course was very much unlike him. He'd been planning to go for his traditional "hand in pockets and all nonchalant" pose, but found he was failing miserably, and was instead cracking up again. Really, where was his perspective? What had happened to the times he was as cool as a cucumber, and Rhyme couldn't affect him at all?

Then again, Joshua knew that all too well, didn't he? It had crashed and burned when the future he'd once dreamed of had.

Anyway… Joshua thought, as he smacked his lips with a sound very much like that of Davy Jones (or so Sora had said, anyway), he probably _should_ have been answering Rhyme right now, shouldn't he have? "I didn't know you were interested in the idea of drugs, Raimu, but hey. I'm a very open individual. We can try that and other things, if you're willing to die and go to the UG again."

Aha. _There_ was the macabre humor he was best known for, but then again- upon recalling what had recently happened to Rhyme in his former timeline, Joshua found he suddenly felt as though he was choking, and he hated himself for accidentally having thought that joke at all. He _needed_ to find perspective, or he was going to scare Rhyme, and-

"Unless you just want me to eat you. You _are_ that cute," Joshua tried to recover quickly, but only to cringe at his own words. Then again, maybe Rhyme would buy the cheesiness? He did truly feel that way, and-

"I may be cute," Rhyme whispered, as she disentangled herself from Joshua's arms (why on Earth had he been complaining about it before? He was already missing the contact now), and pecked him on the cheek with a suspicious gleam in her eyes. "But for your happiness, I'll gladly be that way. Embracing naivety and all. And actually, I meant we've become like an old, boring married couple that bakes together, Joshua. Not that I mind, though. It's perfect to me, Joshua. Just know that, okay? It's truly wonderful."

And it was only then, when Rhyme hopped down from where she'd been perched, and began working on her own handmade pin, that Joshua understood perfectly well what she'd been doing all day: distracting him, and trying to make him happy… Rhyme, she truly was a wonder.

And bringing it all back to where they'd been earlier in the day, Rhyme stopped the painting she'd begun on the black pin, and quickly clipped it into Yoshiya's own ashen hair. As Joshua took it down and looked at it, he had to marvel at the faults in it that made it so very human, Rhyme… and for that, just overall perfect for him. (But really, with his Composer powers, he could have done _much_ better with it, he knew arrogantly.)

Whenever Rhyme tried to paint something with white eggshell coloring, she would always start out writing very small and legibly, only to have her writing get bigger and much less neat as she went on. And though Joshua would never tell Rhyme this, he thought maybe he did value the ladder design most of all. It was just so beautiful, and purely Rhyme, and technically… her handwriting _was_ mostly readable at the end. Mostly. Joshua giggled at the last thought, but only to sober up as the weight of it all hit him again. He'd never had a gift like this in his life, had he? And he was so, so thankful for it.

"Thank you, Raimu," Joshua muttered, as he surprised even himself, and ran to where Rhyme was putting her other pins on the counter of "Pirate's Cove", and embraced her more lovingly than he ever had before. Holding her from behind, as he gripped onto her waist, and buried his face in her hair (never in Joshua's life had he ever thought Rhyme's hair was more beautiful or smelled so good), he _did_ allow himself to love Rhyme in the right way.

And for a moment, everything was perfect as it should have been. For a moment, everything stood still, and it truly was the calm before the storm, but only for just a moment.

Removing the pin Rhyme had decked his hair with, the Composer finally succeeded in putting his hands in his pockets, and upon putting the said pin in his jeans, he opted to hold onto Rhyme's words and love. Forever.

_"I saw you fidgeting once,_

_not knowing whether to fix your toys or break them._

_Completely oblivious you were, to your lack of need for either of them._

_So I took the decision out of your hands, and repaired both as best I could._

_And giving it back to you, I showed you that nothing is whole and nothing is broken._

_Traversing this distorted world together, we will find our own end:_

_The one that works best for us."_

**Author's Note: Shh. I did not break the fourth wall. Since Joshua knows Sora, and Sora knows Jack Sparrow, Joshua could so know about Davy Jones eventually. Especially if he gleaned it from Sora's thoughts. Come on, Dead Man's Chest in KHIII!**

**Anyway… I really don't like this piece. At all. I really don't know where it came from, and don't think it came together that well, but meh. I did need one chapter that talked about what happened after Joshua's time reversal. And I REALLY need to finish this fic already. I have so many other projects to do. C'mon, Shanna!**

**Also… I think I **_**did**_** post last chapter too early. Shit. Well, hopefully I'll find something to combat that issue. **

**Aaaaaand the Neku chapter is coming, I promise, but- the problem is I have this weird issue, where I can't easily get back into chapters I started and got pulled away from. I have SO many Joshyme stories I've begun (even some with big chunks done), and have hoarded away for that reason. I NEED to fix this. I need to post those chapters, as they're central ones, and not just ones I thought up on a whim (like this one). **

**It's such a bad habit, I know. And it hurts me because I pretty much do that with all of my stories. I write such long chapters, that I can't possibly finish them in one setting, so I have to fix this disconnect-from-stories-I'm-away-from-for-even-jus t-a-day-thing. Le sigh.**

**Speaking of "long chaps"… err, not long, actually. This chapter was short and weird. What the hell is wrong with me? And I know it sucks, and I'm sorry, but if I can blame it on anything, it's that I had the flu terribly this week, and wrote this while feverish. Yeah… it probably shows. Or maybe I'm being too hard on myself. Wouldn't be the first time…**

**And I tried to make this a cute and happy chapter, but probably failed miserably. At least it's a whole hell of a lot lighter than last chapter, though. –shrugs- Though that sure isn't hard to do!**

**Oh! And ignore "Rhyme's" terrible poem she put on Joshua's "pin" at the end. Ugh. Why'd I have to decide to write a poem for this? I suck.**

**And why am I ranting so much about stuff you guys probably shouldn't know, or don't care about? Ohmigosh. **

**Shutting up now.**

**-Shan**

**P.S. KH and other references ftw!**


	22. The Song That Summer Sings

**Author's Note: So you're not confused, this chapter talks about Diabetes a little bit. Mainly that if your numbers are all crazy, it can make you seem drunk. And also: people who are Diabetic tend to have a fruity smell to them. This knowledge (if you didn't already know it) will help you. And with that, please enjoy:)**

**The Song That Summer Sings**

"Hehehehe. Neku, dear. If I didn't know better, I'd say you were jealous."

As Joshua had suspected long before he'd even said a word, Neku's response was to—of course—snarl, and curl his hand into a fist.

Giggling at his friend's silly antics, Joshua put his hands in his pockets and responded to the threat mostly good-naturedly. However, if Neku did have the misfortune of continuing this useless chain of events, Joshua supposed he might just have to show him why blonds who loved orange _were_, in fact, disturbed.

"Don't give me that, you bastard. I don't care if Shiki has dissuaded me from murdering your ass! I know you, Josh. And If you hurt Rhyme, I'll-"

Ignoring Neku completely, as they continued down the monotone colored streets of Molco to where "a truly thrilling Tin-Pin tourney was being held", Joshua tried to just enjoy the time he was having with his friend, seeing as how he had had very limited free time lately (and making it all the better! Neku was just so hilarious, when he was flustered), but…

Well, Joshua did have to admit Neku's concerns might well have been founded. Like hell he was going to tell that to his inferior Proxy, though. Putting a hand to his heart in faux-awe, Joshua decided that door number two (in which he just terrorized Neku a bit more) was the best option to choose. "Oh my, Neku. I didn't know you cared. Thinking about my ass, and fearing I'll father an illegitimate child with Raimu all at the same time… Why, I'm flattered. And did you ever stop to think maybe I'm better off with he-"

Crap. Joshua hadn't meant to say that last bit. For one thing, Mr. H was still giving him a hard time for not "having met Rhyme, and therefore improving himself" earlier. It wouldn't do to have Neku remember this Freudian slip, too. After all, it wasn't as though Joshua was going to marry the girl or anything like that.

Digging for his phone, before Neku's keen eyes could even guess what was happening, Joshua meant to Imprint on Neku, so he wouldn't remember his unintentional, serious thought. However, as Neku seemed to have missed the mistake entirely, Joshua found he didn't have to do a damn thing. He much preferred it that way, anyway. Sometimes karma truly was his friend, wasn't it?

"You don't mean-" Neku muttered in what was meant to be a bored tone, as he turned around so sharply, Joshua was almost surprised he hadn't knocked the Tin Pin display case over with the motion.

Cocking his head to the side to see his friend better—in a way that was very much like Raimu (curse her strong influence on him!)—Joshua did have to snicker at the blush adorning Neku's cheeks, as his Proxy put a hand on his shoulder and looked to the side. Yeah… there was no denying that Neku was thinking about something unspeakable. The blush, his avoidance, and tone of voice…they gave it away like nothing else would. "And here you say my mind's in the gutter," Joshua laughed, as he put a hand to his forehead, very much attempting to provoke Neku.

"Damnit, Josh! This isn't a joke!" Whirling around in a much faster movement than Joshua even thought Neku was capable of, even while dashing, the spiky haired boy met Joshua with a vengeance, as he fisted his hands in the collar of Joshua's button up, and lifted him upward.

Almost wanting to laugh at the hilarity of Neku trying to choke a dead person, it took Joshua a moment to realize there were people watching, and he probably should have been struggling just a bit more. Biting Neku's hand, to get him to release him and end the scene he was making, Joshua's first thought upon release was to give Neku some sarcastic comment, but the former-Player wasn't having that. "Look, Rhyme might be able to put up with you more than the rest of us, but when you _do_ end up breaking her… She's gonna shatter more than anyone else, and I won't let that happen! Can you even imagine her that way? Do you know what it would mean for her to be like that?"

Sighing, upon realizing it wasn't entirely about Raimu that Neku was fretting (after all, if it hadn't been for Joshua's fight with Rhyme at the ball, Neku would have very much been his Reaper right now), Joshua forgot all about what he wanted to say or do to his friend, and tried to be a bit more sympathetic about it all.

Even thou- Even though Joshua didn't want to remember at all the horrible way he'd acted that night, he recalled well how he'd completely snapped with his anger, and had hurt Rhyme in more ways than one. Though Joshua was sure Rhyme's hands still might have burnt from where he'd held her so tightly (as if believing she would disappear just as surely as his old life had, if he didn't clutch her with fervor), he couldn't help feeling that the encounter had burned into his memory even moreso.

Why Rhyme had sought him out after that, and had forgiven him (and even more amazingly, was now dating him), Joshua couldn't even begin to guess. He knew that if someone else had acted that way to him there would have been hell to pay, but… proving she was, if fact, an angel, Rhyme was once again overlooking certain things, and more than he should have been, Joshua found he was grateful for it. For that and so much more.

"What if I told you she makes my heart skip a beat, that she's my one and only and shining star? If I told you she shined like the light from the sun, what would you say, then?"

Okay, so he was quoting a line from that horrid American movie "The Lizzie McGuire Movie", but for the most part, Joshua's words were complete sincere. However, he wasn't giving them to Neku, so much as he was apologizing to and thanking Rhyme with his words. Josh knew he didn't owe Neku a damn thing when it came to Rhyme, but Rhyme herself… that was a different story entirely. And in that, Joshua didn't know what scared him more: that he was feeling again after such a long time… or that he still had a hollowness to them, like his parents had had when they'd told him they loved him. Would he… would he end up hurting Rhyme the same way they had him, then?

If Neku had looked at him then, Joshua knew that he would have been shocked to see a sorrow that was even worse than his from the Reaper's Game. Fortunately, though, Neku didn't notice a thing, and so the subject wasn't breeched, and the world's balance continued on.

Overhead, it began raining again; as the puddle from rains past danced over Neku's feet, Joshua found he was almost sad his powers kept him perfectly dry. As always, he was just a spectator to the lives he meant to protect, but- but did he really want to be like that anymore?

It was a few moments Neku and Joshua began speaking again. In such time, a couple of birds looked in their direction, and seemed to cock their head to the side in an effort to mock Joshua. Either that, or they were trying to drown themselves, as the rain was beginning to pick up. It wouldn't have been the first time Joshua had seen a suicidal bird….

Anyway, when Neku finally did say something, Joshua rolled his eyes plainly enough, yet found himself wishing that he and Neku wouldn't always get into such dire conversations. "I'd say that you're full of shit. I know you're planning something with her, Josh. And I'm going to find it out before it's too late. If I don't, Beat will. You can count on that."

Ahh, Joshua had wondered when the Beat threats would start up again. It was almost an odd relief to be threatened by the possibility of injury once more. At least things were returning to normal that way, Joshua supposed. But wait, just when had he ever wanted normality?!

Not liking at all where these thoughts were going, Josh thought it best to return to something that could always crack him up: messing with Neku, and the humorous world of Tin Pin! And wouldn't you know that luck happened to be on his side, and he and Neku were ushered into the "arena" in that moment?

Deciding then, though, that even Tin Pin wasn't enough of a relief from his thoughts, Joshua decided to push things even further. Putting a hand under his chin, he did just that. "Daisukenojo Bito… and Tin Pin Slammer? My, my Neku. You sure are mentally cheating on Miss. Misaki, aren't you?"

There was a beat of silence, in which Neku jerked his arm up and away from where the guy now writing the number on his nametag. Cursing under his breath, as the coordinator of the event, Tatsuya, drew a straight line, covering up most of his nameplate (even getting some ink on Neky-kun's chin), Joshua thought it was only natural that Neku would flip him off, among other things. "Just what the fuck does Rhyme see in you, anyway?"

Dancing around the rude people of Shibuya, who attempted to push past him, (Morons! Just because he wasn't playing, didn't mean they could just bully him around in his own city! Wasn't it so obvious that he and Neku were in this thing together and forever?!), Joshua got right up in Neku's face, and batting his eyelashes coyly whilst smiling, he muttered, "What, indeed?"

"Man, that eye thing is cree-py!" Neku exclaimed, as he pushed Joshua in the arm with just enough force to make grass cower from his "masculinity". Crossing his arms over his chest agitated all the same, Joshua thought he finally understood why Neku only seemed to have an affinity for soccer. What weak, weak upper body strength—even for a human!—the boy had.

And bad listening skills, too! Was Neku really asking him what his number was, when the man had just written it over the very large "I" on the nametag? No wonder the coordinators were writing down the players' numbers for them, then, Joshua found himself thinking, disappointed. Apparently the "Kindred Spirits" all suffered from short-term memory loss.. What a shame. Joshua had expected better from his Proxy, and the alternate version of "Black 'n Blue".

"My quick wit is only but a portion of my particular glow, I assure you," Joshua huffed, as he twirled a strand of platinum hair in front of his forehead, and ripped the nametag from Neku's chest and went as far as to pin it to his forehead. He wondered, idly, just how long it would take Neku to realize it was there, and that it contained his "much needed" number.

…Apparently not long. Faster than Joshua had even anticipated, Neku pulled the piece of paper off of his head, and before Joshua could even comprehend what had happened, had stuffed it into his mouth, only to spit it back out in Joshua's face.

Wiping his face angrily, Joshua thought heavily about turning back time, just so what Neku had just done would never transpire, but thought better of it in realizing he _had _most likely deserved it…Mostly, though, his inaction was because he knew the Angels would break his wings off if he attempted such a thing. "Well, well, well, I suppose you're starting to better keep up with things after all, Nek-kun. Do I see where you wrote your number on your arm there?"

Apparently not knowing what to say to that, or what to do in finally one-upping Joshua (that was nice at least; Joshua had expected Neku to strike up a chorus of "Ding Dong the Witch is Dead" or something), it was a long moment before Neku finally spoke again (and it was only after they'd walked over to the warm-up table, and had scared down some nachos). And when he did, Joshua very nearly wanted to strangle Neku, as the nachos he began choking on clearly weren't doing the job. "I don't even want to know what you meant earlier about the "glow" thing, dude. But hey, what do you think of only being on zero-point-five base with Rhyme?"

"That's my issue, not hers." Had Neku- had Neku really just asked Joshua how far he'd gotten with a girl he hated him for dating? And worse off, had Joshua just answered way too truthfully?! Yes, as Joshua pretty much summoned a gun to his hand then and there, he thought that killing Neku again sounded like a _grand, grand_ idea.

Okay, so Joshua had teased Neku about his relationship with Shiki many times. And he made comments loaded with innuendo often, but… but though Joshua had never said anything about it directly, he had expected Neku to understand his aversion to touch, and letting people in.

Letting people in… huh. That was a riot, wasn't it? And no doubt if Neku knew what Joshua was thinking at the moment, he'd kill _him_ for not keeping to the teachings he endorsed in his "evil game".

"Crap. Did I just say that? Forget I said anything, man. I don't want to think about Rhyme—or you! —that way at all. Sorr-"

"Josh, Neku. Hey! Over here!"

_Kill me now. Just freakin' kill me now_, Joshua thought to himself, as he noted that not only was Neku planning to meet Beat, but Rhyme, too, it seemed. Sparing a glare at Neku, as Joshua wondered if his friend was setting him up to get killed by Beat, he found that Neku's attention was otherwise involved. Oh, so Shiki was here too, then?

Smiling evilly, as the thought of asking Shiki about her and Neku's sex life seemed too good to pass up, Joshua almost missed entirely when Rhyme slammed her glass of pop down, and exclaimed, "What up, bitches?"

Yep. That did it right there. Nearly falling to the ground in hysterics, as everyone else crowded around his Raimu, Joshua had to admit that even though Rhyme was acting in such a way because she was Diabetic… well, it was still completely hilarious.

Even so, Joshua knew that if her numbers were too wacky, it could spell disaster for the young girl. So, running a quick diagnostic on Rhyme, he decided that as long as she was cut off from the banned Surge she was drinking, she'd be fine.

"Okay, which one of you morons decided to give this child a banned soda?" Joshua asked with a raised eyebrow, just as some guy came spilling past him, juggling nachos and cheese all the while. Not liking at all how the fair type of dipping sauce had almost stained his own fair hair, it was almost enough for the Composer to shrug off the weird thing he'd just said. Almost, anyway.

Why… Why had he just called his girlfriend a child, and changed what he'd meant to say, as to not let the others know she had Diabetes? Did he just think it wouldn't matter in the long run? Or- Swallowing nervously, as he tried to understand just why he'd subconsciously labeled Rhyme's Sugar as a "non-issue", Joshua couldn't help but wonder if he'd just meant to use his powers to keep her safe, or… Or was he planning something else entirely? Was he thinking of turning her into his Reaper so soon, then?

"Joshua, are you okay?" Rhyme asked, as she attempted to fix one of the braids she was wearing.

His eyes narrowing in a sudden fury, upon seeing Rhyme push her pop away with a far-too-knowing-glint in her eye, Joshua couldn't help feeling that Rhyme knew perfectly well that she was sick, and yet… and yet was still choosing to do nothing about it. Scoffing at her and the stupidity of it all, as he wondered for the umpteenth time why he was even bothering with the girl, Joshua had to admit it was all _utterly_ priceless. Priceless in that Rhyme had just told him she loved him, had just pledged herself to him in such a way, and yet was already gambling with her well-being. What a joke.

"Yo, prissy! My sis ask'd you somethin'," Beat bellowed, as he pulled Neku away from Shiki, who seemed to be sizing a Tin Pin jacket off of him, and made him focus on the match.

Looking at Neku's soon-to-be-challenger in a bored manner, as he didn't have the patience to deal with Rhyme at the moment (despite Beat's instruction to do so), the Composer found himself suddenly and inexplicably reminded of why he had started a relationship thing with Rhyme in the first place.

That stupid Yukito character—who was now playing against Joshua's own Proxy!—had tried to steal Rhyme away from him way too many times, and Joshua wasn't about to let it happen again. Wasn't it completely obvious that everything in Shibuya (especially Rhyme!) belonged to him? And now he was challenging Neku, when only Joshua should have been able to have that chance? He would kil-

"Hey, Rhyme. I'm going to go meet Eri outside in a bit. Do you want some flavored water, or-"

Almost breaking his phone in half, the way he was clutching it in his hand so tightly, Joshua decided then and there that even though he liked Shiki, and considered her a good friend, he wasn't going to let her steal Rhyme away from him, too. Of course, in the back of his mind, Joshua knew that Shiki wasn't trying that at all, and that he was being ridiculous, but with his sudden irritations with Yukito (and the knowledge of what Rhyme was doing to herself) well… Joshua thought it better for everyone if he talked to Rhyme in private. "No, Shiki. Believe me when I tell you flavored water companies lie. They, too, have sugar in them, and Raimu has had enough sugar for one day, haven't you, Rhyme?"

Ignoring Shiki completely, as he looked into Rhyme's eyes so deeply that she'd be sure to know what he was thinking, it was no surprise to Joshua when Rhyme breathed in deeply, and decided to go with him before Shiki could find the gumption to protest.

Walking out of the far-too-crowded place quickly, without even making sure to see if Rhyme was following him, Joshua listened intently to what sounded like the age-old "stop the bombs from blowing up" game on someone's cell phone. To that, at least, Joshua had to smile the slightest bit. Rhyme was so dang old-fashioned it was downright hysterical. But he wasn't going to let her amuse him too much, though, Joshua promised himself. Not when he had to read her the riot act for destroying herse-

"Joshua, I don't know why you're being so difficult. I thought things would change when we got together, but apparently not. Only you would find problems with me greeting you guys with gusto."

Was she really- Whirling around in a blur of motion that was fast even for him (when he was trying to be speedy, that is), Joshua found he could only stare at Rhyme in shock and anger. So she was going to play the offensive too, then? Well, so be it, then, Joshua supposed. She was entitled to her free will; it was why he permitted her to keep her Player Pin.

But even so… Joshua was very close to forcing his will on her, anyway, if it came down to it. If he had to, he knew he could and he would to save her. _Rhyme,_ _I trusted you. I thought you were better than this. How can you possibly be hurting yourself, and pretend otherwise?_

For once, not having the desire to play games or beet around the bush, Joshua pulled out his phone, and used a feature on it to quickly scan Rhyme. Handing it and its result to her with grace, Joshua waited for her to try to deny him again. She didn't. Sighing at his discovery and slumping down, she finally seemed ready to listen to sense. "Rhyme, you're slowly becoming Diabetic. I don't know if you are yet, as Sanae's inventions rarely work on the first go, but why aren't you being checked out? Especially if it runs in your family? This could change your life forever. Hell, it could kill you. You're being completely selfish, and-"

"No I'm not, Joshua. I'm trying to be anything but that here. Like you said, I know my family's history, and I know where it's headed… but I'd like to hold back that knowledge, if I can. I don't want people to worry about me. And I don't want people to treat me different on the off chance that I am sick. And even if someone did try to help me, well… 'the best laid plans of mice and men often go awry.'"

Most likely deeming the conversation done, Rhyme quickly turned her mobile phone back on, and began her Plants Versus Zombies game again. Apparently, Joshua had been wrong, and that was what she'd been playing before…

Watching Rhyme curiously for a moment, as time seemed to stand still, Joshua tried to understand things from her point of view, but found he couldn't do so. As much as he hated to admit it, she… she was so beautiful, with her hair dancing in the wind, as she calmly waited for him to begin their conversation again. Even her tap-tap-tapping on her phone… it was like she was trying to be as quiet as possible, so she wouldn't drown out his eventual words. It was nice that she thought of him, Joshua found himself pondering, with a certain tenor in his thoughts that he hadn't experienced in a long time. With his Music completely lost to that of Shibuya's, it was nice that Rhyme was still trying to keep him heard in one way, at least. Rhyme…

As much as the Composer of Shibuya wished Raimu Bito hadn't impacted him in such a way, there was no denying she was more central to his life than Joshua was ready to even admit to himself. He couldn't- he couldn't imagine his life without Rhyme anymore, and he didn't want to. And if she were sick, if she was dying, even, Joshua knew he'd find a way to help her, but-

"Raimu, dear, you're being completely selfish this time around, I'm afraid," Joshua lamented, as he strode closer to where Rhyme was standing in front of the door, no doubt looking very suspect as he reached his hands toward her.

Really, as Joshua walked even closer to the blond, looking as though he was about to tackle-hug her or something, he had to wonder just what he was thinking. Beat was just on the other side of the door, and Neku and Shiki were even starting in their direction, but the moment Joshua was directly in front of Rhyme, and clutching her arm in his hands delicately, the entire world seemed to right itself. "I think this time you're doing this for you. Because you're afraid. Because you want to have normalcy with the people you love and the life you've come to lead, but most of all… because you don't want me to heal you."

In truth, Joshua wasn't even sure where his last words had come from. And as he couldn't read Rhyme's mind, he had no way of knowing if what he'd said was right. Somehow, though, he knew he was more correct than he was even aware of. Rhyme was acting odd around him, Joshua knew, and if she didn't want him to try and help her, it certainly would have explained such a thing.

Yes, that seemed like something Rhyme would do, and it certainly explained the distance he was feeling between them. In this, then, Joshua knew Rhyme was being as unselfish as she said (perhaps not wanting to burden him, or some nonsense). In all the other ways, though, she was being completely selfish, and Joshua meant to let her know this, as he rubbed his nose against hers, and whispered huskily in her ear, "Let me heal you, Raimu. Think of how the people who love you would react, if-"

"No! Absolutely not!" Rhyme exclaimed affronted, as she tried to tear away from Joshua, and undoubtedly storm back inside. But even through it all, Joshua held onto her firmly, but gently. And in that, at least, he supposed he might have been making up for that one disastrous gala. Maybe. "Joshua, for one thing, we don't even know if I'm Diabetic! For another thing, I can't come running to you for everything. That's not who I am, and don't tell me you won't get in trouble if you helped me. I know you would. People get sick, Josh, and-"

Was this- was this her vain attempt to tell him she wanted to die and be a Reaper? His heart rate speeding up, Joshua found that even though earlier he'd been protesting to himself that he didn't care about her all that much… well, hearing the unspoken words from her lips really was almost too good to pass up, he found.

But waving a hand dismissively, Joshua told himself he was being ridiculous. Rhyme wouldn't want that. She had too much to live for. In fact, she'd very nearly decided not to be with him for that exact reason. Remembering what he really need to focus on, then, Joshua opted to try and persuade Rhyme again; all the while, he knew he was probably about to be punched in the face, but he carried on, anyway. He just had to make her _see_. "But, Rhyme, if you don't let me help you, _that_ will be selfish. Think of it as a gift for both of us. A gift for you in that you'll be fine, and for me in that I won't get a nose full of fruitiness whenever we kiss."

Yep. The hit definitely came. But it wasn't in the way Joshua had been expecting at all. As he rubbed his bruised cheek dazedly, it took Yoshiya a moment to realize that Neku had come out of freakin' nowhere (and from the looks of it, had accidentally brought Mr. Mew with him, as he'd seemingly gotten caught in Neku's arms "somehow"), and was the culprit of his now bruised ego.

For just a moment, Joshua thought about healing the side of his face via his powers, but upon remembering the conversation he'd just been having with Rhyme, thought better of it. He didn't want to give her a hint as to what he was planning, after all…

"You asshole! Sure, Rhyme puts on too much flower scented deodorant, but do you really have to insult her that way, you prick?!"

Ignoring completely when Shiki bowed at him embarrassedly, whilst yelling at Neku to worry about their _own_ relationship, Joshua was about to award Neku with a scathing comment about missing the obvious, but instead… instead, he returned his attention to Rhyme.

Joshua still didn't know why he was clutching Raimu's hand the way he was: it was similar to how Sora had once held Naminé's hand, thinking she was Kairi, he knew, but for once Joshua thought not to question it. Maybe some things truly were just meant to be, and perhaps it would be best for him not to wonder about it _too_ much.

Rhyme… there really was sunlight in her smile, wasn't there? And as Joshua shook his head back and forth amusedly, and conversed with Rhyme about their friends' ridiculous antics, he made a decision.

Without her even knowing he'd even done a thing, Joshua was able to completely heal Rhyme. And holding onto her forlornly, as a bit of foresight hit him, Joshua had the strangest feeling that even with their relationship being better defined, and more functional, that it ever had been before… that it wouldn't stay that way. If such a thing ever came to be, Joshua thought he could find peace and closure just as long as Rhyme was smiling, happy and unknowing.

_And so your love will be your Fee, Rhyme. A Fee in more ways than I even intend it to be, because I know I'll never be able to love you the right, way, but…_

"I love you, Joshua" Rhyme said, as she giggled at the bickering Neku and Shiki before them, who weren't unlike Joshua and herself at all. And though Joshua very much wanted to return Rhyme's words to her, he wasn't surprised at all when he wasn't able to. Holding Rhyme closer to him instead, Joshua nuzzled his face in the crook of her neck, and compelled her to understand in that way.

And as if comprehending completely what Joshua meant to say, the young girl reached up and licked him on the cheek, realizing… realizing that even if he couldn't say it in human language, he was trying to speak cat, so that she knew… so that she knew he loved her just as much as she did him.

But even so, Joshua could only hope that she loved him instinctually, like a cat would, too. Otherwise, when he messed up greatly (and he knew it was only a matter of time before he did), the kind-hearted Rhyme wouldn't be able to stay with him, and he'd lose her forever, wouldn't he?

**Author's Note: So once again, this has some personal stuff going on in here, but I won't say more on the subject. **

**And man did this chapter give me mood whiplash! I mean, I think it makes sense how it transpires, but first we have funny Neku/Joshua banter, and then this happens. –shrugs- Darn me writing at different times! It messes everything up. LOL.**

**ANYWAY, in bigger news, I'm so glad I finally posted the damn Neku and Josh moment. Now I can rest easy :D :D :D And I did like that part (even if I didn't the other moments in this).**

**Also, I don't know why… but I haven't been liking Rhyme lately. I don't know what I did to her! On one hand, I think that's a good thing, and fits Joshua being all in D-E-N-ial about her, and his conflicted-ness, but…**

**IDK. I guess she's been reminding me a bit of Lily Evans, when Severus called her a Mudblood? Which, of course, is perfectly fine! She has more than enough reason to be all snippety at times (and actually, I was so on Lily's side with that, and am mostly on Rhyme's side in these debates), but…**

**In all honesty, I'm probably just being too hard on myself, as always (and I AM in a very weird mood today; I was all crying earlier, thinking about Harry Potter, hence me just talking about it here), and I'm GLAD I'm showing that Rhyme has flaws, but meh. I don't know.**

**I also don't like the ending to this chappie… I like it better than what I originally had, but I wish it would fit just a bit better.**

**Are you guys enjoying all the Josh PoVs lately?^^ That's been a pleasant surprise, and happening more than I meant it to, actually:) Don't know how long it'll last, but I so love writing for him! LOL.**

**Aaaaaaand whichever lovely person can guess where Neku and Shiki were making out in this, will win a cookie ^_^**

**Oh! And the song is a reference to "She" by Elvis Costello (yes, that Elvis). Check it out, and I think you'll understand why I associate that song with Joshyme;)**

**Later, guys.**

**-snaps fingers, and winks at you all in goodbye-**

**P.S. I'm not gonna lie. This entire thing was inspired by me imagining Rhyme say, "What up, bitches?" for some reason. ROFL.**


	23. All In

**All In**

"Yeah, Shiki; it's totally fine. Seriously, I want to help if I can. Just tell me where you moved the event to- Oh. You're only _practicing _at WildKat now? Okay. I'll be there as soon as I can. Bye."

Hanging up the phone in which she'd just been speaking to her favorite seamstress with, Rhyme couldn't help but look at the device gravely. It wasn't so much that she didn't want to help out Shiki (on the contrary: Rhyme was only too eager to help), but recalling how she'd promised to spend the whole day with the boy who was biting on a vitamin bar with a vengeance, Rhyme surmised that Joshua couldn't be too happy about the whole ordeal.

At the moment, the two teens were camped out in front of Dogenzaka, cooling down from the marathon they'd just walked to help cure breast cancer (read: Rhyme had walked, and Joshua had secretly floated by the entire time). In a word: Rhyme was exhausted. Especially seeing as how the shade of pink they'd opted for her to wear wasn't exactly the best shade for the afternoon heat…

"So..." Joshua muttered lethargically at Rhyme, while she tried not to be too offended by his narrowed gaze that seemed to say he might drop a bike on her. "I take it our plans have changed to accommodate Miss Misaki, then?" Joshua questioned, as he took to straightening out his pant legs that had seemed to roll up.

Trying not to look at said dirtied pant legs, and imagine how he could sabotage some of Shiki and Eri's clothes that same way, if he were irked enough, Rhyme found herself nodding at Joshua's words whilst closing her eyes. She'd known for a while that the Composer liked when she did that; Rhyme was fairly certain that it had something to do with something Neku might have told him once, but she wasn't exactly sure what.

Though in all honesty… the youngest Bito had to wonder if it was really even for a "good" reason that he liked her said laidback look. If he had, in fact, heard of it from Neku- well, let's just say that Rhyme had recently found out—through a deal she'd made with Joshua—about how "Phones" had once asked about their sex life. Ugh. Would boys ever change? Were it not for the fact she was so irritated, and trying to placate Joshua, Rhyme knew for a certain that she would be blushing in her anger.

"Tsk, tsk, Raimu Bito. You really shouldn't drift off as much as you do. And here I was trying to strike up a new wager with you, to make up for the deal you're making now."

"Josh, wait. What-" Whatever Rhyme had meant to say amidst her troubled thoughts (heck, whatever Joshua himself might have been about to say) was never deciphered in the end. Instead, Rhyme found thoughts, words, and all intelligible thoughts completely being thrown out the window, when Joshua began kissing her in a seductive way she was quite familiar with.

There were many days when Rhyme had thought Joshua's powers were too much for anyone to bare, and that they were far too destructive and damaging to all involved. Now, though, as he loved and danced with her in the oldest way known to man, Rhyme thought that Joshua's very existence must have truly been a godsend itself. Truly.

...

"So, let me get this straight," Rhyme whispered confusedly, as she cocked her head to the side-and tried to get her skirt to stay down, damn it; she could've sworn Joshua was charming the damned thing, so it'd stay up in the back-"There was no emergency fashion show rehearsal? You just invited me over to play 'Pretty-Pretty-Princess'?"

Oh no, was Shiki- oh god, was it true? Not liking at all the way Shiki had a look on her face, as if to say "it's not that game, but something similar still", Rhyme very much wanted to inform her friends on how cheaters and liars never prospered, but... Rhyme was just so, well, embarrassed, honestly.

For one thing, in thinking she'd really need to makeup cutting her and Joshua's date time in half, Rhyme had done something she'd promised herself that she never would: she'd shown serious public displays of affection. At least Joshua had eventually teleported them away, but...

Even more irritating than all of that, however, was the fact that Rhyme couldn't shake the feeling that Josh had planned their entire day out so it would go his way. Aaaaand it was for that reason that it was no shock to the blond girl that Joshua was holding the scepter and crown from the princess game, as if he'd just become Miss America. Nope. It didn't surprise Rhyme at all. Crossing her arms angrily, Rhyme narrowed her eyes at Joshua, and all but hoped a bike would fall on him for change.

"Well, actually," Shiki allowed, upon putting her glasses on more snugly, so she could survey the game's title better. "I think Joshua jumped the gun again. When I was getting out the games I brought, he just immediately saw this one and thought I wanted you guys to play it, but you're actually supposed to be playing the 'Barbie Dating Game'."

Blinking at the old looking game that Shiki had put in front of them curiously (and also noting how Shiki seemed to be giving Joshua a look: something Rhyme was more than inclined to raise an eyebrow at), Rhyme's mind was quickly abuzz with questions. Why were they supposed to play a game about Barbies when they were both too old, and Joshua was a guy (and not gay, much to everyone's surprise)? Was this supposed to be some subtle hint by Shiki that she thought Rhyme should have been dating someone else, and if so... why the hell did Joshua look so smug about it all?

Also, Rhyme supposed she was kind of curious about why Shiki had brought two games to WildKat, if they were only meant to be playing one. Maybe some of the pieces had gotten mixed up when Shiki was a kid?

Yep. It certainly seemed like that was it. And showing much more initiative than he had during the marathon, Joshua was quick to begin taping buttons on his phone, so as to get everything back into order. Proving, though, that even Yoshiya Kiryu wasn't perfect, he seemed to have forgotten that Shiki had never meant for them to play the princess game (maybe he was just being stubborn about it, as he himself wanted to play the damned thing?), and had left the box open accordingly.

Before Joshua could even make note of the mistake he'd made, and begin to dismantle the game board like the perfect "petit prince" that he was, though, Rhyme had already gone to work (or more accurately: she made sure that Joshua could give no excuse as to why they should play the damned thing when Shiki came back from the kitchen).

And as Rhyme set her head down tiredly on her widespread arms, after all her hard work, she was sure she probably looked like she was either saying "safe" like a referee, or was trying to sleep with her arms drawn. As the girl sat there tiredly, thinking on the game board she'd just put away… she was reminded of a time she'd done something similar, in cleaning or putting together a Life game board. At those times, Rhyme had often thought how at least it was faster to put the game away than to play it, and that it wasn't nearly as long as Monopoly…

"Poking fun at Monopoly, dear? I'm sure Master Eraqus would have your head for that." Joshua said pulling Rhyme out of her thoughts, as he gazed at her all too knowingly and smiled like an angel.

Reaching under her beanie to make sure her Player Pin was, in fact, there, Rhyme found words spilling out of her mouth of their own accord. "How did you-"

"Please. Your face is very easy to read, Raimu. Especially since I know _all _the emotions it makes now." For once choosing to ignore the blatant lie, as well as innuendo included in what Joshua had just said, Rhyme instead enjoyed waving her arm over the game she'd already put away, and had been planning to hide under the table. He knew _what_ now? Rhyme thought to herself, as she smirked her own secret smile.

As Joshua took the bait surprisingly enough, and frowned at what she'd done (seemingly to have somehow missed when she'd put his apparent "prized possession" away), it was all Rhyme could do to not scream out loud at the delight in her victory, and to pump her fist into the air. Unfortunately for her, though, she wasn't as prepared to win the day's test of wills as she'd might have thought.

As Rhyme did finally give into the desire to gleefully throw her hand up in the air, the way the bright light reflected on her ring finger spoke of many things to come. Things she hadn't seen yet, and perhaps didn't want to. Just what was going to happen her-

"Sorry to disappear like that, guys. Eri needed help with 'The Better Than Sex Cake' she was making. Anyway, you should know that I'm having you play this game so you can get married. Essentially, this game used to be about doing all the things ya need to do to get ready for prom, but I changed it up for you guys."

"Shiki, what are you- Do you know what you just did? Joshua... and Beat!" As Rhyme trailed off slightly—upon realizing she very well might have been making the conversation even worse, by talking about Joshua's issues as if he weren't even there—Rhyme reluctantly turned to her boyfriend, expecting him to be staring at Shiki peevishly and planning something vile.

What she got instead, however, was Joshua surprisingly raising his hand up in what looked like an attempt for peace, and him smiling at her with what looked like a strange look on his face. "Raimu, while it's true I have reason upon reason to not want this, what with my stupid parents' awful marriage, my inability to let people in, and the uncertainty of our own future, I find I'm perfectly okay with playing this game together, if you are."

"Eep! Great! I'll just scoot your chair in closer there Rhyme, and I'll be on my way again!" Turning towards Shiki wildly, as the girl went ahead in bringing Rhyme closer to the game board—and therefore Joshua himself—Rhyme was about to question Shiki's odd question. In fact, she even had the girl's name on her lips, but the question never came.

Sighing resignedly, upon realizing that Shiki wasn't going to give her any sort of insight into what was going on, the youngest Bito returned her attention to Joshua's peculiar actions. "'Wow. So straight forward, and without a hint of irony. It's very...romantic'" Blushing outright when her words reached her, and upon realizing that she'd spoken much more plainly to Joshua than she ever had before, Rhyme thought she'd probably embarrassed herself enough for one night. For that reason, she squashed the question she really wanted to ask, and-

"What where you quoting there, Raimu?" Joshua asked, as he set to mixing up the "wedding dresses" Shiki had now implemented into the game in the form of cards, rather than the prom ones they once were. Looking at the cards a bit worriedly, Rhyme wondered if Joshua meant to hide the ugly dress, and trick her into buying said cheap one just because she couldn't make out the true hideousness of the gown with it hidden.

Crossing her arms indignantly and huffing at the cheating Joshua, Rhyme found she wouldn't put it past her Partner to do something like that at all, and so Rhyme compelled with her eyes for him to put the damned cards down, and onto the spaces on the board where they belonged. "No idea."

And at that, with Joshua smiling like the Cheshire Cat in response to Rhyme's words, the two finally set to playing the Barbie game of Shiki's, and finally let their rivalry truly go to town. As Rhyme sat there, having to look for a "husband" in front of her boyfriend, she promised herself that she would try to win for Beat (because she knew he'd want her to put the 'Prissy in his place' at least once for him), but she also knew that if she lost, she'd lose with grace.

Or… she strongly planned on trying to be respectful, anyway, but it was her boyfriend she was talking about. Thankfully the food and drinks that Shiki and Eri brought in every now and then gave Rhyme enough energy to continue challenging Josh.

It was about half-way through the game that things began to go downhill for Rhyme (and Joshua continued to smile throughout it all like the devil himself). For one thing, Rhyme had oddly gone into a strange fit of giggles, when it was Joshua's attempt to buy a tux. If Shiki's taping of pictures onto the game board had made Rhyme laugh before, it was nothing on how out of place the pictures of "Josh's tuxes" looked tacked on.

And Rhyme also had to admit she was fairly annoyed in having to go home so many times; at this rate, she knew that it wouldn't be an easy thing at all for her to win, and the way Joshua was distracting her with funny stories was making her care about that less and less. And even worse than that: Rhyme knew she should have been caring, but couldn't find it in her to. Just when had Josh gotten so funny and charming? Maybe it had been when Mr. H stepped away, so as to not give him anymore pick-up lines?

"You know, the whole 'taping fake cards on, to make it into the game you want' idea reminds me of how I once had a Powerpuff Girls game as a boy, and sought to add Bunny to it."

Spitting out the grape slush that she had had Shiki make her just so she could annoy Joshua, Rhyme could barely look at said boy through her watering eyes and bouts of laughter. She didn't- she didn't even know The Powerpuff Girls that well (save for the short running anime that had been played of it), but just imagining a young Joshua playing a game with that, and especially him wanting to include the… very dense seeming Bunny, it was much too much for Rhyme to handle. What in the world had happened to Joshua liking insufferable characters, she wondered. Perhaps that was an attribute that had come for him later, when-

"Wait a second, Josh. Please tell me you weren't one of those people that always had to be a perfectionist, and include 'your own characters' into official works." Honestly, the idea of the Composer "writing fanfiction" even as a child was more humorous to Rhyme than it probably ought to have been. In fact, it almost made her wonder if Shibuya was a giant land of action figures to the girl. Seeing as how he'd been keen on trying to destroy Shibuya without a second thought…Rhyme certainly could have seen it.

"Well, I'll tell you I wasn't one of the people who made the 'Sailor Earth' trope come into fruition, if that's what you're asking. Does that answer your question? And really, Raimu, you're not so different from me, you know. It might have been in a different vain than how I wanted to include Bunny, but weren't you the one who wanted to put all the Twilight movie trivia cards into one, to make for a challenge? That's pretty similar to me wanting to play a game with all of the Powerpuff Girls, don't you think?"

Despicable. Absolutely despicable. That was the only word Rhyme could come up with to describe the smirking Composer in front of her, who was looking at her as if he could see all of her naked faults (and if he kept this up, Rhyme promised herself she'd _never_ get naked for him again!). Wasn't it enough that his words were downright jerky to her at times, but did he really have to reach across the table and hold her hand all comfortingly now, as if she was the one with the problem of mixing fantasy and reality? The nerve of some people, but… if she enraged as she would have liked to believe, why was it that she wasn't pulling her hand away?

Truthfully, Rhyme truly had been having a great time with Joshua before, and though most of their conversation had been full of jest, she found that now—as she really thought about it—she was getting quite upset with him. He had… he had thought of Erasing Shibuya, as if it were just a bad story idea, and now he meant to lecture her about the dumb Twilight thing: something he'd even promised to her that he'd never bring up?

Her suspicions from earlier returning to her, Rhyme thought that if Joshua was planning something fun for her, via the game they were playing together (that she knew he was cheating in every chance he got), that he was doing a poor piss job.

Getting up from the soft seat she'd just been sitting in) Rhyme was about to walk out of the room and maybe get a breather, but when she looked at Joshua's eyes swimming with mirth, she changed her mind. Why did he- why did he look like he'd just put her on one of those American reality shows or something? Was this what she was beginning to think was happe-

"Rhyme. Rhyme! Blow out the candle. Blow out the candle!" Looking at Eri curiously (who had come out of freakin' nowhere, Rhyme thought upon chewing her lip), Rhyme couldn't shake the feeling that she was either about to get a pie in the face, or that someone was going to come award her with a huge check. Looking at the little purple candle that had been sitting on the edge of the game board precariously, Rhyme found herself glaring at it, as if it was the real culprit for everything.

"What? This candle here? Shiki, Eri. I can't do that. It looks as though the power went out in the kitchen? With the sun having gone behind the clouds now, if I blow the flam out, we'll have no light." And even before the words had completely left her mouth, Rhyme found herself already imagining just what Shiki or Eri might have said to counteract her argument "but the love you and Joshua share will be enough to light any darkness..."

Sudden clarity hitting her in much the way she thought a freight train would, Rhyme found herself recalling just what the game she and Joshua had been playing had been changed to. She also remembered Joshua's kind words after that, the strange look he'd given her- It seemed as though everyone had been planning something all day, hadn't it, and… Would it really have been too much to expect that this candle was supposed to represent her life alone, and when she blew it out, they'd make her and Joshua blow out another one together: a unity candle.

"Guys, tell me the truth now. What's going on-"

"Rhyme, dear. Don't ruin the surprise. If you won't blow the candle out yourself, then I will." Welp, that had just about confirmed her thoughts, hadn't it? Was Rhyme's future "hubby" picking up the slack that she couldn't? Smiling wider and wider, as she linked her arm with Joshua's, Rhyme found she couldn't wait to see what Joshua was surprising her with now. He'd made the room be full of Darkness, but for once she wasn't afraid. She wasn't afraid. And never would be again, would she? _Joshua_…

As a sense of serenity filled Rhyme up to the very core, it almost seemed as though time had begun to stand still, as Rhyme stood there with Joshua waiting for him to put that candle out for her, and then for Shiki and Eri to bring the Unity candle to them.

Her hands slipping into Joshua's of its own accord, and then feeling the wonderful electricity that had always been present between them, Rhyme found her eyes lingering on Joshua's own. By looking into them, she meant to implore how sorry she was for being so defensive and doubting him lately.

Giving him all the attention she could now (something she knew he was much too keen to have, but also more than deserved), Rhyme ignored completely how Eri told Joshua to make sure she was sexually pleased, and instead found herself doing something neither her or Joshua would have ever thought she would: she stole lines from the person who had always mocked her for her quotations. "I will happily marry you in the Game we play, Joshua. We'll be together always and through everything, even if it is just for this silly card table game. And… even if you are a hopeless Powerpuff fan."

In the end, Joshua's response to that, as the lights went out—and Shiki and Eri almost burnt them in the face when they tried to get a lighter working—was to begin kissing Rhyme in a way that really ought to have been illegal, but she didn't care in the slightest. And at least Eri was seeing the passion she'd just asked for, Rhyme thought smugly.

And as the blond reveled in the feeling of being in Josh's arms, she thought that even if it was bad luck that they'd just accidentally blown the unity candle out after lighting it (due to her and Joshua not being able to keep their hands off each other, and making the thing go out with their ministrations), that really they didn't need to worry at all. They were each other's light and always would be. She'd- she'd succeeded in helping Joshua, after all, hadn't she? But even more amazingly…

Joshua'd helped and had brought her to life. Oh, her Joshua... How happy and blessed Rhyme felt to have him like this now… even if it was only temporary and all just a Game.

**Author's Note: So I actually have a lot to say about this chapter (and probably should have edited this more), but… Seeing as how I'm feeling really, really sick, I'll just leave it all like this. Hope you all enjoyed this:)**

**-Shan**


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